Epitome of a Soldier
by WingsOfADream
Summary: Instead of being sent to the Dursleys, Harry was hidden away, his magic allowed to grow undisturbed, until the day came when Dumbledore would wake him. Only Dumbledore died. DMHP SLASH within.
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone :)

Finally, the beginning of the new multi-chaptered piece of mine is up and ready to read!  
Okay, now, this was written way, way, way, WAY before Deathly Hallows came out so there are absolutely no spoilers in this. So, if you don't want to read spoilers this would be a very good story to read as several of my Horcrux predictions were wrong -.-  
In case you missed the note in the summary, this is DM/HP SLASH. If you do not like that then don't read. If you don't like slash but do read this for some strange reason, do not review/e-mail me complaining because I've warned you.

DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter et al belong to J K Rowling and everyone else who makes money from it. I'm not making money from this unfortunately, I just have nothing better to do with my time :D

* * *

Two sets of footsteps echoed off of the dark grey, stone walls and floor, the flames of torches flaring to life around them as they were passed, lighting the way ahead. Neither of the two people who strode through the wide corridor spoke, though for their own reasons. All there was were footsteps, the crackling light of fire and dark grey stone.

But then the corridor ended, opening out into a large chamber which was lit by several white, glowing stones which steadily began to grow brighter and brighter upon their entrance. It was the sight at the back of the chamber which caused the shorter and younger of the pair to finally break the wordless silence: "Merlin..."

Ahead, the only thing in the chamber stood out against the dark surroundings like a sore thumb. A huge mass of what appeared to be some sort of green crystal took up the entire length of the twenty foot long back wall of the chamber and about half way up to the high ceiling. Inside the middle of the green crystal was a rectangular black mass, the same shape and size as a bed, made of the same stone the surrounding area was made of. And, on top of that stone bed, was a person, trapped and apparently sleeping inside the crystal.

"That is the most elaborate coffin I've ever seen." The young man gasped, following along behind his elder, approaching the mass of crystal.

"It isn't a coffin," the man corrected. "It's an incubator. If you had listened to anything I had previously told you, you would've have known that."

"You can't expect me to remember what you talk about considering what's just happened." The blonde boy muttered as he stopped in his tracks upon receiving a sign from his companion who continued on forwards, towards the mass of green crystal.

"I told you only an hour ago." The black haired man pointed out as he knelt down in front of the crystal upon reaching it. He leaned down and appeared to be looking for something, though whatever it was wasn't blindingly obvious.

The blonde said nothing in reply and just watched with a light scowl on his face which seemed to be more of a natural expression than a sign he was actually annoyed with anything. For a few moments there was silence as the older man continued to search for something. Then, when he obviously found it, there was a loud, heavy clunk which reverberated throughout the stone chamber. The blonde young man looked around himself at that, only slightly startled, attempting to see if there was any visible change to accompany the odd noise.

"What was that?" He asked curiously seconds before he felt a definite vibration underneath his feet. He hastily stumbled back a few paces as a panel on the floor began to slide away, revealing a hole underneath where a polished sphere of green crystal, the same as the mass on the other side of the room, was resting.

The dark man stood from where he was kneeling and made his way back over to his companion and the newly opened hole. Upon reaching it, he crouched down and reached in to remove the crystal ball. Curiously, the blonde youth watched as, the moment the orb was removed from its resting place completely, the mass of green crystal which covered so much of the back of the room began to fade away into nothingness.

Once the green crystal around the stone bed and the person on it was gone, a few moments of nothing passed before a heavy intake of breath broke through the silence. It took the young blonde a moment to realise that the now steady breathing, sounding so loud in the silence of the large chamber, was coming from the form on the stone bed who was now much clearer. The person was definitely a boy, the face was too angular to be feminine, there was no evidence of facial hair though which gave the boy an appearance of being younger than he probably was along with his height which appeared to rather small. His skin, all of which was on show as the boy was completely naked, was deathly pale, as though it had never seen a ray of sunshine, and completely unmarked. His hair was very long, reaching the heels for his feet, and it was hard to tell what colour it was in the dim light; it was either black or a very dark brown. And then, the eyes of the boy on the stone bed opened, and the blonde was awed by the intense shade of green that his irises were. The boy was truly beautiful in a mysterious, creepy sort of way.

A few more moments of heavy breathing from the boy passed before his lips parted and he spoke for the first time. "You are not Albus Dumbledore." The voice which left the boy was strangely empty. It held no emotion but it was soft and had there been any other noise around, it would've been hard to hear properly.

"No. My name is Severus Snape, I teach Potions at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is Draco Malfoy, my charge." The man introduced himself and the blonde young man at his side who was staring in awe at the bare form of the dark haired young man of the same age as him in front of them.

"The time has not yet come; why have you woken me?" The dark haired teenager asked in the same tone, lips barely moving with the words.

"Albus Dumbledore is dead."

The revelation was met with a silence which stretched on for some time. Neither Severus or Draco spoke, not sure if they were supposed to or even what to say while the strange boy, still laying so perfectly still on the slab of stone, which could have been neither warm or comfortable, remained silent and unmoving. Until finally, two softly spoken words reached their ears:

"Very well."

Slowly, the dark haired youth sat up without using his arms to push himself with an ease that contradicted his slight form. Every movement he made was effortless, as though they were only pointless delays to aid him in achieving something. Or perhaps what created that impression was the fact that still he showed no real emotion. His face was blank and his eyes were empty despite their brightness. And the fact that he was completely naked and apparently didn't care was rather shocking.

Blushing furiously, Draco quickly caught himself in the act of ogling the strange young man who was slowly walking his way and he looked away, frowning at himself in annoyance. Beside him, Snape watched the approaching dark haired enigma without emotion on his own face as he removed his outer teaching robe. As the boy passed them both without word or acknowledgement, the Potions Master draped the black robe over his shoulders, covering his body and covering his nudity. The boy continued to walk forward silently, making no sign that he was even aware that he was now covered. Silently, Snape followed on behind the boy, ushering Draco forward as well with a gentle pressure on the blonde's upper back.

"Sev, who is he?" Draco asked the older man quietly as they walked several paces behind the young man in question.

"He is Harry Potter." Severus answered grimly, his eyes staying on the naked youth covered only by his teaching robe. "And he is the only hope we have to defeat the Dark Lord."

* * *

End of Chapter 1.  
It's short, I know, but hopefully it's caught the interest of some of you. Reviews will be appreciated now more than ever as starting a new story is always slightly intimidating.  
Now, update times. This fic is not yet finished, (though I only have a chapter and a half left to write) so for the time being, updates shall come every ten days. Then, when I've finished the last chapters, I'll bump the frequency up.  
Okie dokie, that's all from me for this time. I shall see you all again in ten days :)

Hugs  
Dream


	2. Chapter 2

Hi everyone :)

I'm so happy! You all liked the first chapter! Oh, that's such a relief :) I'm glad you're all liking everything and now I just hope I don't seriously disappoint anyone :D  
I have nothing more to say so let's just get started :)

* * *

Almost sixteen years.

For almost sixteen years, Harry Potter had slept within a crystal incubator and he had dreamed of what had been happening in the Wizarding world while he slept. He knew everything that had happened and he had never even seen any of it in person. He knew about the Philosopher's Stone being protected and subsequently destroyed in 1990, he knew about the trouble with the Chamber of Secrets in 1991, he knew Sirius Black was freed from Azkaban upon the arrest of Peter Pettigrew in 1992, the Triwizard Tournament in 1993 in which Lord Voldemort had been resurrected with the killing of Cedric Diggory, the events of 1994 and 1995, he knew about the Horcruxes.

But then, suddenly, the dreams had stopped and he had merely slept. Shortly after that, he had been woken.

And now there he was: his hair had been cut to a more sensible length, the ends coming to a stop just underneath his ears; he was dressed in a plain, black robe; he was sitting in a small bedroom and staring out of a window inside a hidden house with two people he knew had Dark Marks on their arms. He wasn't afraid though. To be completely honest, he wasn't sure he knew how to be afraid. He wasn't sure he knew how to be anything.

A knock on the bedroom door pulled him from his thoughts but he didn't move, didn't even flinch. "Enter." He invited in what was apparently his voice it seemed; it was low, it was soft, it held no emotion. The sound of the door opening reached his ears and still he did not turn his eyes away from the world outside of the house; such bright colours, even in the night, his dreams had always appeared so dull in comparrison.

"Have you settled?" The deep voice of the man who had identified himself as Professor Severus Snape inquired from behind him.

"Yes." Was the only answer he gave.

"You are aware of everything I assume?"

"Everything." He agreed before a pause. "Up until the death of Albus Dumbledore."

"I see." Snape replied, apparently not knowing what else to say.

"Only one Horcrux has been destroyed at the present time." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes, Slytherin's ring." Snape confirmed.

"It was the curse attached to the ring which killed Albus Dumbledore."

"No." The older disagreed. "It would have killed him eventually if I had not done so first."

"You killed Albus Dumbledore."

"Yes, upon his instruction."

"Good, then you are honest enough to not lie to me, or at least smart enough to realise that I concluded it myself." He stood then; a clean, precise movement, almost as though it had been programmed into him. "There is a study here?"

"Downstairs, I'll show you the way." Snape offered, watching carefully as the dark haired teenager walked across the room, heading for the open door he stood beside.

Instead of receiving a thank you as Snape half expected, he heard a the simple statement of: "Riddle's diary has made its way back into public circulation."

"Yes, no one knows where it is now." He told him, leaving the room, knowing that the strange young man would follow on behind.

"Then we will locate it." He said simply as he left the room, the older man following on behind. There was silence for a short time, a silence thick with the urge to speak hanging heavily in the air. "You may address me by my name." He assured the man, knowing that was what was bothering him.

"Potter it is then." The Potions Master decided.

"I remind you of my father." Harry spoke then paused for a moment. "You cannot let go of the hatred which lingers over how he once treated you."

"That is neither here nor there." Snape replied tersely, obviously not eager to discuss such a thing.

"Indeed." It came out as more of an acknowledgement of speech rather than an agreement. "The boy who is with you; Draco Malfoy."

"What about him?" Snape asked as he followed

"It was his task to kill Albus Dumbledore."

"He's a mere child, he couldn't be expected to do such a thing."

"Of course." Again, it was more of an acknowledgement than an agreement.

Snape stopped walking outside of a door. He reached for the knob and turned it before putting a slight pressure on the door, causing it to swing inwards. "This is the study, as you requested." He clarified as the teenager walked into the room wordlessly. "Do you mind if I inquire as to why you need it now?"

"I will begin research on the locations of the remaining Horcruxes immediately." The boy answered, walking straight over to a bookshelf and stopping in front of it.

"That isn't really necessary for you to do immediately. There is enough time to allow yourself an adjustment period. After what you've experienced..."

"I have experienced nothing." He interrupted the man, reaching for a book and pulling it from the shelf. "My task is to locate, retrieve and destroy the remaining Horcruxes; it is why I am necessary. Therefore, it is what I shall do. I will pass on any advances." Not once did he turn and look to the Potions Master and it didn't really seem he was talking to the man either, simply speaking his plan out loud. As he finished speaking, the youth folded open the book in his hands and then focussed on it completely.

Snape stood at the open doorway for a moment, just looking at the back of the boy he had woken from an almost sixteen year sleep no more than two hours ago. His posture was perfect, his spine completely straight unlike the everyday teenager who slouched and slumped their shoulders. His feet were slightly apart, in the perfect position for balance and so he stood as still as a statue. None of his pale skin was visible from the man's position, the too-big robes covering his hands and the ends of his hair effectively covering the back of his neck. It struck Snape that he looked like a shadow, something that had no will of its own and was forced to face an eternity of following another in everything.

"I'll leave you to it then." Snape said eventually. He waited a moment for the reply he knew he wouldn't get before stepping backwards, out of the room, shutting the door after himself with a light click.

* * *

For several minutes, Draco stood outside the study, looking through the key-hole at the person whose was apparently the Boy-Who-Lived. It was hard to believe that the young man was really in that study, sitting in an arm chair and reading a book. All children at Hogwarts were taught the modern history of the Boy-Who-Lived but now Draco had learnt that they left out one very important detail; never, in any of his lessons, had he heard about the Boy-Who-Lived being imprisoned in a mass of strange, green crystal. As far the Wizarding youth knew, the boy known as Harry Potter had been sent to live with his Muggle relatives in order to live out a life of peace. What a load of rubbish that turned out to be.

Now, staring at the enigmatic Harry Potter, Draco could tell that the teenager wasn't a normal boy. Harry Potter wasn't doing anything in particular, just sitting and reading, but it wasn't natural, or relaxed. The dark haired boy's posture was perfect, back completely straight, and the newly cut hair was hanging right in front of those impossibly green eyes and surely should've been annoying and hard to read through. Soon after the wakening, it became apparent that Harry Potter and inherited James Potter's bad eyesight so Severus had transfigured some glasses to make do until they could get something more permanent done, but despite the spectacles which covered the shocking green eyes, there was still something about them that Draco couldn't put his finger on that just made the Boy-Who-Lived seem empty, void, un-feeling.

Draco took in a deep breath to steel himself before he straightened up and reached for the door knob. He turned it and opened the door in quick succession, as though afraid if he took his time he would change his mind. Harry Potter didn't lift those famous eyes upon the blonde's entry and made no sign of even being aware of the new presence in the room. Undeterred though, Draco moved further in, carefully approaching the one and only Harry Potter, the Wizarding world's only hope again the Dark Lord Voldemort.

Coming to a stop right in front of the dark haired boy, Draco cleared his throat quietly before speaking: "Erm, hi." He greeted before pausing, waiting for a reply.

Nothing.

"We haven't really had the chance to be properly introduced. I'm Draco Malfoy." The blonde said, holding out his hand for the boy in front of him to shake. Still the dark haired boy made no move to acknowledge the young aristocrat. After a few seconds, Draco lowered his hand and bit back a scathing remark; he would not ruin the chance of becoming the friend of Harry Potter by being harsh even if the saviour was being a snooty prat at that moment. "I, erm, I learnt about what you did in History of Magic but we were never told what actually happened to you afterwards. Have you really spent the entire time asleep in that chamber?"

"Is there something you need?" The question was spoken softly as everything Harry Potter said was.

"What? Oh, erm, no, not really, I just thought we should get to know each other." Draco stammered nervously, completely unsure how to handle this strange icon of Wizard courage.

"To do so is unnecessary and I have a task to complete." Harry Potter said without emotion, closing the book slowly and standing effortlessly. Draco was passed by without word, speech abandoning him completely as he watched Harry Potter leave the room. "If you are asked, you may tell Professor Severus Snape that I have located a Horcrux and have left to retrieve it." And with those parting words, Harry Potter disappeared with a crack.

Draco stared after the dark haired boy in pure disbelief; Harry Potter had just wandlessly Apparated out of the house as if the Apparation wards surrounding it didn't even exist!

* * *

It was appalling really, how painfully easy it was for him to break into Hogwarts. The wards had been pitiful in the ease of which they had been countered for long enough to allow him to slip in undetected. True, he'd had a little trouble with a rather shaggy looking cat at one point but a simple sleeping spell had dealt with that issue. Now, he was standing in front of a statue he recognised despite the fact he had never been standing in the position he was at that moment. No doubt the last password he had been aware of had been changed by whoever it was who had replaced Albus Dumbledore as the headmaster of Hogwarts and so, to play safe and save time, he used the one way he knew who definitely give him access without even speaking.

He stepped up to the statue and placed his hand on it lightly. There was a grinding sound somewhere deep inside and he removed his hand, stepping back. Moments later, the statue had come to life, stepping to the side before settling into its stillness again. He moved forward and began to climb the stairs with the same ease and grace he carried everything out in, his arms remaining at his side. At the top of the stairs he found the familiar door he had never seen before and he pushed it open. Behind was the headmaster's office, empty of people or creatures. Slowly, he entered.

"Is that you Harry?"

The young man in question whipped around in the fastest movement he had made since he had been woken earlier that morning, and arm held out in preparation to cast a spell to defend himself. However, instead of finding a person behind him, he found a wall of portraits and his eyes instantly fell to the one he was the most familiar with.

"You are Albus Dumbledore." Harry said as he lowered his arm and relaxed somewhat.

"Oh good, so you do recognise me." The portrait of the elderly wizard smiled happily. "I was hoping that my visits would get through to you to some extent. I'm supposing I wasn't the one who woke you considering I am now hanging on this wall as a picture?"

The young man said nothing.

"Who was it that woke you my dear boy?" The old wizard inquired kindly.

"Professor Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy." He answered softly.

"Really? Together you say? How interesting. Do you mind me asking...How it was I went?" Professor Dumbledore inquired.

"Professor Severus Snape cast the Killing curse on you when it became apparent that Draco Malfoy could not. You were dying before that however; by the curse on a Horcrux you located and destroyed." The young man explained.

"You are all in hiding then?"

"Yes."

"That's probably for the best for you right now; ease you into being awake. How are you dealing with it?" Dumbledore inquired kindly.

"Living is...Strange." He answered, pausing for a moment as he decided on the right word to describe it.

"For someone from your unique background I imagine it is. How long have to been awake now?"

"Nineteen hours and thirteen minutes."

"Not even a day? And you're already searching for Horcruxes? Surely you need more time to adjust than that?" The deceased Headmaster asked, concerned.

"More time is unnecessary." He replied. "You believe there is a Horcrux hidden in the school."

"Yes, down in the dungeons I suspect. Why I never dealt with it before I don't know," a sigh, "I suppose we never will know now."

"Indeed." Was all Harry said to that as he went to move forward to leave the office.

"Do say hello to Professor Snape for me Harry and try and live a little; your life is your own again." Dumbledore told him sadly.

"My life belongs to Voldemort." Was the only answer that statement got before the young man was striding forwards, leaving the room and the portrait of the only man he knew to any extent behind him.

* * *

"There you are!"

Harry ignored the sharp greeting as he popped into the living room, a wand gripped lightly in his right hand and hanging by his side.

"Did you not think it prudent to tell me that you were going before you left?" Snape demanded of the young man as he stalked up to him.

"I did not think it was necessary, no. There was little need to delay in order to seek you out." The dark haired boy replied before lifting the wand in his hand. "Ravenclaw's Wand, found in a disused classroom in the dungeons of Hogwarts, no curses or hexes in place, it can be destroyed immediately."

Snape's eyes flickered from the blank face to the wand a few times before he sighed somewhat wearily. "Very well, come down to the basement and we shall take care of it immediately." He turned and walked away without word and he didn't need to speak or look to know he was being followed by the boy.

The boy, Harry Potter, son of Lily and James Potter. On the one hand, the boy, because the teenager was still a child in Snape's opinion, looked just like the late James Potter with the exception of those wonderfully green eyes. But on the other hand, that face held no emotion, completely different from what James Potter had been like. At first, when Harry Potter had initially woke up, Snape had felt an instant swell of dislike for the boy who resembled the once bane of the Potion Master's life. Then, having experienced some time with the boy, Snape realised that Harry Potter was nothing like either of his parents. Harry Potter wasn't really like anyone; being asleep for sixteen years straight no doubt made you different from other people.

Entering the basement, Snape flicked the light-switch on with his finger, making a sickly, yellow light fill the room. It was hardly an ideal light source but he couldn't use his magic for fear that it be traced to that point and Aurors would come. There was little evidence to support the truth of the agreement that he and Dumbledore had made and no doubt any evidence that was given, no matter how strong, would be ignored. The Wizarding world wanted Dumbledore's killer Kissed and as soon as he was caught, it would be over for him.

The two wizards reached the bottom of the stone steps which led down into the basement and moved over to the large table in the middle of the room which held all manner of jars and bottles with a cauldron and a Bunsen burner settled in the middle of it all. Just to the left of the Bunsen burner was the lump of green crystal which Snape had removed from the chamber Harry had slept in for the majority of his life.

"If you could light the fire for me Potter while I retrieve the potion." Snape instructed as he went over to a wooden cupboard on the right-hand side of the room.

The teenager said nothing but did as he was asked, turning on the gas tap and then clicking his fingers a few dozen centimetres above the Bunsen burner. The gas caught light instantly and the bright orange flame flickered and danced as he prepared a second Bunsen burner. A few minutes later and there were ten lit Bunsen burners arranged wide enough so that they would evenly heat a large enough cauldron to accommodate the length of Ravenclaw's Wand. The dark haired boy transfigured a small tripod into a larger one which they could use to support the cauldron over the flames. Snape came back to the table then, carefully carrying a large cauldron filled three quarters of the way up with some sort of clear liquid. The young man helped the older support the cauldron as soon as he came within reach and, together, they lifted it onto the magically enlarged tripod.

The time it took for the liquid to heat was passed in silence, green eyes and black eyes never leaving the liquid, watching through the moments as it slowly went from a simmer to a boil. It was when it started bubbling that Snape seized the green crystal in his right hand and Ravenclaw's Wand in his left. They were held above the cauldron for a moment before dropped, hitting the surface of the clear liquid simultaneously. A loud hiss rose once the two objects had submerged completely and the liquid immediately began to turn a sickening green and thicken. Reaching to the side, Snape turned off the gas taps in turn, the flame of each Bunsen burner going out when its supply was cut off.

After a long moment of waiting, the hissing stopped as did the bubbling. Cautiously, Snape reached forward tentatively and pressed his hand to the edge of the cauldron; it was stone cold. Wordlessly, he signalled for the teenager beside him to help him remove the cauldron. They did so carefully, taking it over to a group of cheap, plastic, Muggle trays which Snape had set up before they started, while Harry had been lighting the Bunsen burners. Slowly, the contents were tipped into each tray in turn, moving onto the next one once one had been completely covered, the once watery consistency now more like a thick soup. It was only when a solid lump fell out onto the fifth tray that they pulled it back. With a wave of Harry's hand, the green stuff, the cauldron and the four trays which were covered in the green stuff vanished without a trace, leaving only the tray which held the lump.

The dark haired boy lifted the gooey lump with a gesture of his hand and then set it down on the floor away from himself and Snape before he banished the last used tray. While he did that, Snape took a large bottle off of the table and pulled the cork out of it. He slowly tipped the contents over the lump, revealing the orb of green crystal which was now a shade darker than before and possessed a lower degree of clarity. Once the orb had been completely washed of the green liquid, the teenager banished the mess just as easily as the rest. He then bent down and picked up the crystal before handing it to Snape. The sour man said nothing and took the crystal. After, Harry turned and left the basement without a word.

* * *

Rain. Never before had Harry ever seen rain. Never before had he felt rain. He couldn't feel it then, he was inside, but he could see it. He tracked a single raindrop from where it hit the window at the top and then slid all the way down the glass to the bottom. Then, he would watch another one. The glass no doubt radiated a coolness but he could feel nothing against his face. He leaned forward and pressed his left cheek against the window and still he felt nothing. It was not surprising, it was what he had been expecting so he moved back again, his skin leaving the smoothness of the glass.

The click of the door opening caught his attention but he didn't react, just continued to stare at the pouring rain. Through the reflection on the window pane he saw the head of now familiar blonde hair standing at the open doorway. He soon turned his attention back onto the rain.

"Sev and I have to go for a little while; the Dark Lord's calling. We shouldn't be too long, no longer than an hour at the most." Draco told him in a sort of earnest, reassuring way.

He made no answer.

"Did you hear me?" The blonde checked uncertainly.

Still he said nothing.

Draco glared at Harry in annoyance. He wasn't used to not getting a reply when he spoke to someone and it was incredibly frustrating that it was happening now. And what made it worse was that Draco didn't feel he could even snap at the dark haired boy. After all, Harry Potter saved the Wizarding world from the Dark Lord the first time round and was going to save them all from him again, certain exceptions had to be made for such a person who was going to help so many. There was also the strange way the boy acted, as though there was no real awareness of anything and that the dark haired teenager wasn't part of anything, simply existing while the rest of the world lived around him. It was unnerving to say the least.

"Draco, what is taking so long?" Snape's voice called from downstairs.

"Harry Potter isn't saying anything." Draco called back, turning to face the open doorway.

"Have you told him everything?"

"Yes."

"Then let him be, he doesn't need to answer. Come along; the Dark Lord is no doubt unhappy with us already and we don't want to make it worse by being late." Snape instructed before his voice didn't come again.

Draco gave a small sigh before turning to look at Harry Potter again. He was still sitting there, his back to the door, just staring out at the rain. "We'll see you in an hour or two then."

Still no reply.

The blonde gave a frustrated huff before leaving, almost in a flounce but not quite, slamming the door shut behind himself. Still the dark haired boy did nothing. He just continued to watch the rain sliding down the window pane.

* * *

End of Chapter 2.  
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as the first one. It explains some stuff but it also leaves questions which still need to be answered :)  
Okie dokie, I'm off for another ten days of attempting to cut through my current case of writers block with a butter knife -.-

Hugs  
Dream


	3. Chapter 3

Hi everyone :)

Thank you very much to everyone who took the time to review, they make the writing worth while :)  
Oh my gosh, I have the worst Harry Potter block in the world! It's not writers block because my original projects are going just fine, it's just my Harry Potter fanfiction which has hit a snag. The inspiration and desire to write about Harry and everyone else seems to be fading away slowly but surely. I blame lack of originality personally, both my own and others. I long ago stopped reading fanfiction because it all seemed the same and now I'm finding that I, myself, am lacking original ideas and what ideas I do have, I'm lacking the inspiration to them.  
...I think I've moaned enough for now, I'll just let you all get on with the chapter :)

* * *

Morning came and Harry's eyes flew open, fully awake in an instant. He hadn't slept for very long, perhaps two hours at the most, but it was enough to recharge him. He still sat in the armchair in the study, the book he had been reading before resting on his lap, opened but cover-side up. The room was lit from the sunlight outside coming in through the single window, telling him that it was at least past eight o'clock in the morning now. With his usual slow and careful movements, he lifted the book on his lap and shut it before setting it down on the table beside his chair. He then stood and left the study, heading in the direction he was pretty sure the kitchen was in once he was past the door. Before he could reach his ultimate destination however, he paused upon entering the living room. 

There, by the still open front door, was Professor Snape and Draco Malfoy, collapsed on the floor, both face down and clearly unconscious. They were still dressed in their Death Eater robes though they were no longer wearing their masks. There were no apparent injuries but that meant very little when magic was involved. After all, there was any number of curses which could be used which left no physical mark but still did great damage. The Cruciatus for example.

For several moments, Harry just stood there, simply watching the two. Then, very slowly, he approached them, sinking down onto his knees, just in front of both of their heads, when he reached them. A few more seconds were spent once again watching the still forms before the dark haired youth reached forward and pressed his index and middle fingers to the blonde boy's neck. There was a steady rhythm beating underneath the skin assuring him that Draco Malfoy was still alive. Knowing that, he moved onto Professor Snape, pressing those same two fingers to the black haired man's neck. As with the younger Death Eater, there was a definite pulse.

Both men would live. That was all he needed to know.

Harry got to his feet and walked the rest of the way to the kitchen. In there, he went straight for the food which was the most apparent and easiest to gather; an apple and a banana from the bowl of fruit on one of the side counters. He left without further actions after he had found his breakfast, once more passing the unconscious Death Eaters on his way back to the study, but that time he didn't even spare them as glance. He was aware of their presence, he just felt no need to aknowledge it a second time, especially since he knew both would recover.

Before too long, Harry was back inside the comfortable room which was the study and straight away he sat back down in the armchair and began to peel the banana before reaching to the side and retrieving his book. He lifted the yellow fruit to his lips as he flipped the cover back open and began to concentrate on the text inside again. His eyes on the page, he brought the yellow fruit to his lips and took a small bite of it. However, after a mere two chews, he froze, all action of his jaw stopping. Slowly, he turned his eyes onto the banana he held in his hand, looking at it out of the corner of his eyes. Seconds passed of nothing but that until he set the banana down on the table beside the armchair carefully at the same time as placing the book down on his lap. Then, he opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out, revealing the half chewed bite of banana. With a wave of his hand, the lump of fruit was banished.

Glancing down at the apple which had rolled down to nestle between his leg and the arm of the chair, he reached for it carefully. He brought it to his face and inspected it closely before taking a rather small bite out of it. It crunched as he chewed it slowly, the sound muffled through his shut mouth but still audible. Then he swallowed. He paused for a moment afterwards as if considering something. Eventually, he lifted the book from his lap again and brought the apple back up to his lips. As he continued his studying, he took another bite.

* * *

Draco bit his bottom lip lightly in concentration as he struggled to balance the tray he was holding and turn the knob which would open the door into the study. He had woken up on the living room floor that morning in unbelievable pain but luckily Snape had had some suitable potions already on hand to help ease the aches he had been suffering from. Never before had he ever suffered the Cruciatus curse and now he had...Well, needless to say he had a lot more respect for the Longbottoms. 

As he finally got the door open, he nudged it with his hip and put on his best smile. "Good morning." He greeted the room cheerfully, knowing that the person destined for the tray of food he was carrying was no doubt present. Sure enough, there Harry Potter was, sitting in the same chair as the day before, the only thing different being the barely touched banana and the apple core resting on the table. "It's about lunch time and I thought you might be getting hungry." The blonde said by way of explaining his presence.

"You are no longer injured." Harry spoke in the usual barely hearable voice.

Inside, Draco beamed at that, beyond glad that Harry Potter had finally noticed something about him. "Oh, it was nothing too serious, Sev gave me a potion for the pain and I felt...Wait," a light frown crossed his face as something occured to him. "How did you know I came back hurt?"

"You were unconscious this morning." Came the simple answer.

"You knew?"

"I saw you and Professor Snape while on route to the kitchen."

"You actually saw us, you went past us, and you didn't help?" Draco gasped, his frown deepening. "We were clearly injured and you just left us there? We could've been dead for all you knew and you just left us there! You're unbelievable, you know that! I mean, to not want to talk to either me or Sev is one thing, but to not lift a finger to help us when we were so obviously in need of medical attention; what sort of person does that? It just isn't done, it goes against human nature to just let people suffer like that! And we were suffering! We both suffered so many rounds of the Cruciatus Curse that I lost count! Do you not even care? Or do you just not understand?" The blonde ranted angrily and the only reason he wasn't waving his arms around was because of the tray of food he still held.

Harry Potter said nothing for what seemed like an age after the talking/yelling had stopped and Draco just continued to stand there, glaring at the dark haired boy. However, eventually, words came: "Are you aware of the location of Professor Snape?"

"What?" Draco asked, unable to quite believe what he had just heard.

"Are you aware of the location..."

"I heard what you said!" The blonde snapped irritably. "What I meant was why do you want to know now of all times?"

"It is necessary that I speak to him. Do you know where he is?"

Draco sighed. "I left him in the kitchen to come and bring you lunch."

Harry Potter wordlessly stood from the seat, placing the book down beside the apple core on the table. Then, the dark haired boy passed Draco by as though the blonde was nothing but thin air and walked straight out of the still open door.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Draco called, quickly putting the tray down on the floor before running off after Harry. The Boy-Who-Lived obviously moved with incredible speed though because the dark haired teenager was already entering the kitchen by the time Draco caught him up. The blonde slid to a stop on the tiled floor and watched the interaction between the boy who shared his age and the older man silently.

"I have discovered the location of another Horcrux."

"Where?" Snape inquired from where he sat at the kitchen table, pausing in his pouring of some tea.

"Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Are you aware of it?"

"Yes. It's the home of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black."

"Those names are..."

"Familiar? Yes, no doubt they are. Sirius Black is the man who escaped from Azkaban prison in 1992. When Peter Pettigrew was arrested at the Ministry along with several other Death Eaters, Sirius Black had his Azkaban sentence revoked and became a free man. He and Remus Lupin were friends of your parents. In fact, I believe Sirius Black is your godfather." Snape explained patiently.

"I see."

"What Horcrux is it that's in there?"

"Slytherin's Locket."

"And you plan on going to get it soon?"

"Tonight."

"Very well, I'll stay up and have the acid ready to destroy it."

"As you wish."

And with that, Harry turned and walked out of the kitchen, once again passing Draco as if he weren't even there. The blonde watched him go with a scowl before turning back to look at Snape. The Potions Master had continued with his task of preparing his tea. "That guy is a freak." Draco muttered as he walked over to the kitchen table and slumped down in the chair opposite his teacher.

"Do you not think that a little harsh?" Snape murmured, setting the tea pot down.

"No, I don't! He's like a...Like a..." The young man struggled for a second to find the right word. "He's like a doll! Yeah, that's it, like a doll. He doesn't do anything except what he's supposed to, he doesn't act like he has emotions, even his tone of voice doesn't have a real tone! And he ignores me all the time! I have been nothing but friendly and accomidating towards him and most of the time he just ignores me!"

"It sounds to me you are simply bitter that he appears to have no interest in you rather than actually a valid reason to be annoyed." Snape replied knowingly.

"And why shouldn't I be offended? There's no reason for him not to like me and yet he doesn't." The blonde pointed out reasonably.

Snape gave a tired sigh at that and rubbed his eyes wearily before standing up. "I have had far too much excitement in the past day and a half to have to listen to your continuous whining. I am retiring to my bedroom for a well deserved rest. The only reason I want to be disturbed is if there are Death Eaters outside, Aurors outside or if Mr Potter needs me for something." He said as he picked up his saucer, his tea cup resting on top, and headed out of the kitchen.

"Oh yes, sure, make an exception for him why don't you!" Draco yelled after him. He got no reply to that and with a huff, he crossed his arms over his chest and commenced sulking.

* * *

The crack of Apparation broke the peaceful silence which surrounded 12 Grimmauld Place for a split second before the quiet resumed. From the light of the half moon, Harry would've been visible to anyone who happened to look up onto the roof of the house but as there was no one in sight, there was no need to worry. Moving over to the very edge of the roof, he leaned forward and over in order to check the windows and saw that there was light shining through a set on the bottom floor which meant there were most likely people in that particular room. That meant he couldn't Apparate or else those inside would hear the crack. That was no real problem, he'd just have to get in the Muggle way. 

He straightened back up and moved over to the other side of the house, the side which faced the back garden. Reaching the edge, he leaned forward just as before and was satisfied to see that, predictably as it was a warm summer night, there was a window open. That was all he needed. With an amazing amount of skill and grace, Harry swung himself down, shooting through the window neatly and landing in a crouch in the room behind the window; he found himself in the house's bathroom. He got to his feet and carefully crept over to the door which led into the rest of the house. After pulling it open a little, he peered out into the darkness behind just to check if there was anyone currently upstairs who might see him. There was no one though and upon reaching complete surety of that fact, he slipped out of the bathroom and commenced his search for Slytherin's Locket.

It took him several searched rooms before he found the hole in the ceiling which led up to the attic. He lifted his right arm and directed his hand to the wooden panel which blocked the attic off from the rest of the house. With a light clank it moved away, clearing the path. For a second he hesitated as he considered how best to get up. Then, upon deciding, he pressed his back against the wall to his right and then stretched his legs out in front of him. Slowly, he walked his feet up the wall so that he was no longer touching the floor. He used his arms to move his torso so it didn't drag against the wall and gradually, just like that, he managed to make it all the way up to the ceiling. It was tricky for him to get into a position which would allow him to grab hold of the edge of the hole into the attic, the risk of falling and making a noise ever present, but he managed it and was able to heave himself through the hole and into the attic.

The dark attic was suddenly lit by a bright silver glow Harry created wordlessly and then held in his slightly cupped right hand. The light didn't quite reach the edges of the attic but it effectively lit the surrounding area enough to allow him to search for the Horcrux. It would also prevent him from walking into anything and perhaps making a noise which would alert the people in the house that there was someone besides them in there.

For what seemed like ages he searched every nook and cranny of that attic and for a long time found nothing. Not once did he lose his patience or even come close to losing his patience though, he just continued his slow, careful searching. Eventually, it paid off and it was when he moved an old cardboard box off of another one that he saw the face of the locket resting on top of the junk which filled the box. He quickly assessed the immediate surroundings of the locket for any evidence that it was booby-trapped and only when he was completely satisfied nothing was going to happen if he took hold of the object or removed it from where it was, did he reach for it and slowly closed his left hand around it before pulling, dragging the chain out of the box as he brought the locket closer to himself.

Harry knew the moment his skin touched the locket that it was the one he needed. It was a sort of innate realisation. He wasn't completely sure himself how he knew so definitely that this was Slytherin's Locket but he wasn't about to question it. Getting to his feet, he slid the golden object into an inside pocket of the simple black robe he still wore before bending back over and picking up the box he had originally removed from the top of the one he found the Horcrux in. Once it had been replaced, there was no evidence that he had ever been there, everything was exactly as it had been when he had arrived, right to the last detail.

Only when he was completely satisfied that everything looked exactly the same as before his arrival, did he close his right hand, extinguishing the silver glow it had been holding. After glancing around the pitch black attic one more time, Harry took the final step towards the hole in the attic floor and jumped down, landing back in the first floor of the house. No sooner had he landed though that the yellow glow of artificial light suddenly flooded around him and footsteps started to come up the stairs. Without hesitation, the teenager made a dive into the room closest to him, shutting the door quickly behind himself but being careful to make sure it didn't slam and give him away. He remained close to the door and peered out through the crack between it and the door frame at the two people who were coming up the stairs.

"I wish I was old enough to retire." A man's voice grumbled from by the stairs, though the person who said them wasn't yet visible.

"It'll come all too soon and then you'll be depressed because you'll be old." Another male voice said in answer to that just in time for Harry to get the first glimpse of the two men. Both people he instantly recognised and his eyes widened minutely at the sight. It was strange how the two men could seem so familiar to him yet this was the first time he had ever really seen them.

"I'm already old." The man with shoulder length, black hair muttered as he turned to the right, heading towards what Harry knew was the bathroom.

"You're in your mid-thirties." The other man, who looked incredibly tired and rather worn, with shorter, sandy brown hair pointed out in amusement as he went to the left, heading Harry's way. The dark haired youth drew back from the door a little but never took his eyes off of his view to outside. It was only when it was obvious that the man was going to enter the room Harry was in did he quickly get out of the way, diving under the king-sized bed in the middle of the room.

"And that's old!" The voice of the other man protested from somewhere else in the house as Harry watched the sandy-haired man's feet wander around from underneath the bed. "I never thought the day would come that I'd be in my thirties!"

"That's because you only acknowledge what you want to acknowledge; you've always been like that." The sandy-haired man said, his voice fading as he left the room.

For several moments, Harry lay under the bed in silence, waiting patiently for the two men to come back in and settle into bed and go to sleep. He couldn't risk being seen sneaking out of the room or them hearing the crack of his Apparation. All of this had to be done in complete secrecy. Secrecy meant no one seeing him, hearing him or even suspecting he was there.

Before too long, the two men had returned. They continued to converse as they climbed into the bed and the mattress dipped underneath their combined weights, forcing Harry to lay himself flat against the floor to avoid being noticed. When the light was turned off, he prepared to slide out into the open and sneak out of the room but he was forced to remain where he was when the conversation once again picked up.

"Remus?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you ever think about having kids?"

"You mean like adoption?"

"Yeah."

"Can't say that I have though I'd never say it wasn't possible. Have you been thinking about it then?"

"Sort of."

There was a pause then where neither man said anything more nor did either of them move. However, eventually, the person laying on the left hand side of the bed shifted, the mattress dipping a little more to accommodate his new position. "Or should I be asking have you been thinking about him then?"

A sad sigh came then. "I can't help it Moony, it's getting so close to his birthday."

"Sirius, you know that if we did adopt a child, even if it were a boy who looked exactly like him, it wouldn't actually be him."

"I know that!" Sirius Black's voice snapped angrily and a brief, awkward silence passed for the next few seconds. "I'm sorry," the man said eventually. "I didn't mean to sound so harsh."

"It's all right."

"Where do you think he is right now Remus?"

"I don't know."

"Do you think he's happy?"

"I hope he is."

"I wish I could see him, just for a moment, just to see how he's grown up, to check whether he's all right or not, to make sure he's happy."

"Oh please Sirius, you and I both know that if you got to see him you'd want more than a moment, you'd want to keep him forever."

"I suppose your right...None of this is fair you know. If it wasn't for Pettigrew, I never would've been thrown in to Azkaban and we would've been granted custody of him just like Lily and James wanted."

And that's when Harry realised; they were talking about him.

"Do you think, maybe, we could try and find him?"

"Oh Sirius, I don't know...Where would we start? For all we know his uncle and aunt might've changed his name completely. He might not be Harry Potter, he might not even be in England anymore."

"Couldn't we just try? There's no harm in trying, surely?"

"But he'll have been raised a Muggle, he wouldn't understand anything, he might not even believe us if we were to tell him anything..."

"I don't care Remus, I don't care about anything. He'll be turning seventeen in less than a month and I want to be there with him..."

"Sshh, all right love. If you want to, I suppose we can try and look for him though I really don't know where we'd start what with Dumbledore being dead now; he's the only one I can think of that might've been able to help us get started. But we'll figure something out in the morning, when we've slept and can look at all of this properly."

"All right. Good night Moony."

"Night Padfoot."

No more was said after that.

Harry lay there for countless minutes more, waiting for as long as he dared to before he finally began to shuffle out from underneath the bed. Once out, he didn't stand and instead crawled out of the room, keeping as low to the ground as possible. The door was opened the barest minimum before he squeezed out. That done, he finally got to his feet and hurried back to the bathroom, where he first came in. The window was still open luckily and he wasted no time in climbing up to it, using the edge of the bath tub as a boost.

But then the bathroom light suddenly came on and against everything logical inside him, Harry froze completely and turned his head to look over his shoulder. There, standing at the open door was the one known as Remus Lupin, staring at him as though he was staring right at a ghost.

Their eyes met for only a second but it was obviously enough. "Harry...?" The man breathed and it was enough to bring the dark haired teenager out of his stupor. He turned and dived out of the window, ignoring the call to him to wait for just a moment. In mid-air he Apparated and in an instant he was back at the safe house, in the bedroom which had been named his when he had arrived.

Slowly, Harry lifted his head and looked ahead only to find himself staring right back in his reflection in the full length mirror attached to the bedroom wall. He had never really seen himself before and for long moments he just stood there and stared at the person who was Harry Potter. That person, the person staring back at him, the person who he was, everyone knew as Harry Potter. Yet different people called him different names. Why? If his name was Harry Potter, why didn't everyone call him that? He didn't understand how he could be Harry Potter and at the same time be Mr Potter to Professor Snape and Harry to Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Was there more to a name than a simple method of getting someone's attention? Could the name you called someone convey something else?

Remus Lupin called Sirius Black "Love". But wasn't love an emotion? Why did he call someone who already had a name something different? And Draco Malfoy; he often referred to Professor Snape as simply "Sev". It was...Very strange. He did not understand why it was necessary.

* * *

End of Chapter 2.  
Oh, poor, confused Harry! Don't you just wanna give him a cuddle:D Sirius and Remus don't have a big part in this story. This chapter and the very last chapter, (which although I still have to write, I know what's going to happen in it) are the only ones where they're seen.  
Right, okay, that's all from me for now. I'm off to stare at the word document where the final chapter will eventually be written until something finally comes for me to write down -.- Take care all and I'll see you in another ten days.

Hugs  
Dream


	4. Chapter 4

Hi everyone :)

Ah, the lovely reviews :D Thank you all so much for your kind words and encouragements :)  
Now, the issue of my Harry Potter block. I think it may, just may, be breaking ever so slightly since I've started my most recent project which, funnily enough, will be the sequel to this. Yes, I know I kicked up a huge fuss about how much I don't like sequels at the end of Family Means More Than Blood but it's different this time. Writing Harry as a focussed, neutral character is a lot of fun for me, plus I have a halfway decent idea for the sequel's plot. And, if it gets me out of my Harry Potter block, then it can't really be a bad thing, can it :D  
Enough from me for now, let's get on with things.

* * *

A week or so passed without event. Harry remained mostly in the study, keeping to himself while Severus and Draco did their own thing. Whenever the two Slytherins came back from their Death Eater meetings, the Boy-Who-Lived, if he came across them because he never actively sought them out, would leave them be after checking they weren't dead, returning to the study to continue his searches for the Horcruxes. Half way through the week, Harry got his third break-through in his search and located a fourth Horcrux and had then waited until the end of that week to retrieve it. 

Appearing in the living room of the safe house with a crack, Harry immediately turned towards the door which would lead him down into the basement where he knew Professor Snape would be waiting for him, ready to destroy Hufflepuff's Cup which was currently clasped in his bare right hand. He was fully aware of the fact that the cool metal was cursed and was currently busy burning his palms and fingers quite severely but he ignored it; it was more important to destroy the Horcrux rather than to deal with something as trivial as a personal injury. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, the young man was greeted with the immediate sight of the Potions Master, sitting on a stool beside the cauldron which was already set up, reading a book.

"I have retrieved the Horcrux." Harry said by way of introducing his presence.

Snape instantly lifted his head before closing his book and stepping aside, allowing for better access to the cauldron. Harry stepped up to the black pot full of bubbling, clear liquid, picking up the lump of green crystal when he passed it. Holding the two objects above the cauldron, he made sure they were in the correct positions before dropping them into the liquid. Instantly, the liquid began to turn green and thicken, just as it was supposed to.

"Was it hard to get?" Snape inquired for no apparent reason.

"Entering and exiting were challenging." Was Harry's simple reply as he turned to go. However, he hadn't taken more than a step when his right wrist was caught by Snape.

"What in Merlin's name happened to your hand?" He demanded, pulling the small teenager closer and inspecting the badly burnt hand. "I thought you said that getting in and then out was the only difficulty you had?"

"It was. The burns are the affect of a curse that was placed on the cup, no doubt to discourage it being tampered with. I had little other choice than to allow it to burn me." Harry explained in his usual monotone.

"But surely it must have been incredibly painful?" Snape asked, sounding somewhat pleading, as though he wanted, needed, the strange boy to admit that it had hurt him, that the severe burns on his hand were still hurting him.

"It was bearable. It was always going to be a possibility that I may suffer from a loss of sensation for some time after I was woken; that is most probably the reason why." The dark haired boy explained as he allowed himself to be led over to the stool Snape had been sitting on before.

"That doesn't mean that you won't be affected by the burns. I have some salve that will stop the blistering from becoming too severe." The Potions Master said as he glided quickly over to the cupboard at the side of the basement where he kept most of the potions they had in store. He quickly located the correct jar of salve and a roll of white bandages and picked them both up, bring them back over to where Harry had remained seated and unmoving. "You hand will have to be wrapped in bandages as well, to protect it as the blisters start to heal."

Harry said nothing in reply to that but merely watched without expression as Snape scooped some of the salve out of the jar and began to apply it generously to his burnt hand, rubbing it in gently, so not to put too much pressure on the wounds and not to jog it unnecessarily despite the fact it was obvious the teenager was feeling no pain whatsoever. Silence stretched between them as Harry's right hand was tended to, completely coated in the salve before the bandage was reached for by the man. However, before he could start to wrap it around the hand, footsteps came running down the stairs. Snape lifted his eyes, while Harry remained staring down at his burnt hand neutrally, in time to see Draco reach the last step of the stone stairs.

"What's wrong?" Snape asked with a light frown, seeing the expression on the blonde's face.

"Father's been sentenced to the Kiss!" Draco almost sobbed, holding up a letter he held in his right hand.

The man remained silent for a moment, apparently shocked into stillness, before he regained his composure and replied as he went back to tending the injured hand of the dark haired youth. "You always knew that was a possibility. Does the letter say when it's scheduled for?"

"Why are you even asking that!" The blonde demanded tearfully. "We're not going to just let them do it to him are we? We can't just abandon him Sev, we have to save him!"

"Your father was a Death Eater." Harry suddenly said in his usual quiet voice.

"What?" Draco demanded irritably, turning his eyes onto the form of the boy who was still staring down at his injured hand.

"Your father; he had the Dark Mark on his left forearm."

"So?"

"Then he was rightly convicted of serving Voldemort and therefore deserves his punishment, even if that punishment is his soul. You have no right to wish for him to be saved."

A truly hateful look creased Draco usually attractive face then. He marched straight up to Harry and, without warning, clenched his hand into a fist, brought it back and then swung forwards, punching the dark haired teenager firmly in the jaw. The green eyed youth accepted the blow without sound or reaction, not even flinching or closing his eyes at the pain, his head simply snapping to the side with the force of the impact.

"Draco!" Snape yelled, leaving Harry's hand and turning to look at his charge.

"How can you say that!" Draco shouted to the boy in front of him angrily, totally ignoring his guardian. "How can you be so cold and clinical? You don't care about anything, do you? All you ever do is research Horcruxes and then wander off to go and collect them, just as you're supposed to! Just as Dumbledore programmed you to do. You're nothing but a doll! You just do anything that anyone tells you without question or feeling! You're just an empty shell for people to do with what they want! You're completely dead inside and I hate you! I hate you more than anything!" And with that said, Draco turned and fled the room.

"Draco!" Snape called after him, taking a step forward to go after him but pausing to stop at the newly injured boy. Harry was still just sitting there, his usual stoic self, though his jaw was getting rather swollen. "I have a salve that will help..." He began to say.

"That will be unnecessary." The Boy-Who-Lived replied in a monotone as he stood and turned so he could begin to turn off the Bunsen burners with his uninjured left hand. "Draco Malfoy needs your assistance more than I do at this present moment."

Snape hesitated a moment longer before finally giving into Harry's wishes, leaving the basement and heading up into the rest of the house. He went straight upstairs to Draco's bedroom. Trying the door knob, he was unsurprised to find it locked. So, he knocked on it several times none too gently. "Draco, open this door immediately."

"Why? So you can defend your precious doll, like you always do?" Draco's voice retorted from inside the bedroom.

"I have no need to defend him because he didn't do anything wrong; you're the one in the wrong here Draco." He called through the door, partly telling the truth but also trying to provoke the young man to come to the door and open it so they could talk/yell face to face.

"I don't see how I can be in the wrong when I'm not the one who's cold, emotionless freak!"

"No, but you are an ignorant, spoiled little brat." Snape said and when he heard footsteps on the floorboards on the other side of the door, he knew that last comment had won him this first part of the confrontation.

In fact, seconds later, the door was flung open to reveal a hot-faced, messy-haired Draco looking completely furious. "Why you slimy, greasy, son of a God-damned..."

"Thank you for opening the door Draco." Snape interrupted promptly as he stepped past the younger man and moved into the room, cutting the youth off before he could say something too bad. "Now, perhaps we can have a civil conversation face to face rather than a yelling match through a closed door."

"What's the point of even having the conversation?" Draco practically spat as he slammed his door shut again and stormed over to the desk beside his bedroom window. "All you're going to do is defend your's and Dumbledore's precious Golden Doll." He accused as he collapsed in the chair in front of the desk and sprawled himself across the desk-top.

"Draco," Snape began calmly, standing in the middle of the bedroom, looking at where the blonde was slumped. "For just a second, imagine that the only physical contact you've ever had ended when you were sixteen months old. You haven't spoken or met anyone else since then, instead watching the events of the world pass by in a sort of dream. Then, one day, you're woken from a sixteen year long sleep before you're supposed to be and not even by the person you expect. The person you expect and the only person you know to even a slight degree is actually dead and that is the reason you've been woken early. You're thrust into this strange world of touch, sensation and reaction which you recognise but don't truly understand because you've never experienced it. You struggle with all the new emotions you feel, all the new experiences despite the fact you've watched everyone do it for themselves your whole life and all the new sensations which seem to be bombarding you every second of every day. All the while, you know that all this has happened to you for one reason and one reason only; so that you can locate and destroy the Dark Lord and his Horcruxes.

"Now you just try and tell me, having gone through all of that, you'd be acting like a perfectly well-adjusted human being."

Draco glared at the wall just below the window and directly in front of him for quite some time after that little speech, his mind going through everything he had just been told. True, he'd already guessed that Harry Potter had been asleep inside the green crystal for the majority of his life but he had never really considered what that involved and what it meant for the saviour of the Wizarding world. He couldn't even imagine what life must be like for the young, dark haired man. Experiencing nothing for so long and then feeling and having to actually live so suddenly and it all being so new and different from the still silence he was no doubt used to. And, to top it all off, the Boy-Who-Lived had to deal with Snape and himself. Neither of them probably made it much easier for the boy.

"That...That's really awful..." Draco murmured quietly, still staring at the wall.

"Indeed." Snape agreed.

"Why though? Why was it done? Why did he have to be locked away like that?"

"I don't know the details, those died with Dumbledore, but from what I understand, it was the safest option for him but also it was almost like a incubation period for his magic. Because he would never have the bursts of uncontrollable magic that young wizards and witches often have and because he would never perform a spell in his life, his power would be allowed to grow and multiply without disruption. Why do you think he is able to perform wandless magic without so much as thinking about it?"

"So his life was basically sacrificed just to defeat the Dark Lord?"

"It would appear that way." Snape said with a nod before back-tracking on himself and continuing with his earlier point. "Draco, young Mr Potter has enough to deal with without you hurling abuse at him, both physical and verbal. He doesn't have any real understanding of the bond between a father and son and therefore can only fully understand the clinical laws of justice. He no doubt didn't mean to be hurtful, he just didn't understand your side of it."

"Merlin, I'm such a prat!" The blonde groaned in frustration. "Do you think he'll forgive me?"

"I don't think he has a concept of forgiveness." The man told the teenager who immediately turned, looking crest-fallen. "But having said that, I don't think he has a concept of blame either. Still, it would probably be best to apologise anyway."

"Yeah, right, of course." Draco agreed distractedly before standing and quickly hurrying out of the bedroom.

The blonde retraced his steps to the basement quickly, taking the stairs two at a time. However, when he reached the closed door of the basement, he froze, his nerve suddenly leaving him. What was he going to say? How would he ever go about starting the conversation? He was so used to being a master of social interactions but with this strange young man who had barely lived really, he was stumped; he didn't know how he was supposed to act around the strange boy or how he should really talk to him. Especially if Severus was correct and the young saviour had no concept of blame or forgiveness. How was one to go about apologising to someone who didn't understand the significance or the worth of it?

With a determined frown, Draco steeled himself and reached for the door-knob. Without anymore hesitation, he pulled the door open, revealing the dimly-lit basement behind and, slowly, he began to make his way down the steps. When he reached the halfway point of the stairs, he saw that Harry was back to sitting on the stool in front of the cauldron which was now still and calm. His posture, as always, was perfect, his back and neck completely straight though his head was slightly tilted down so he could concentrating on bandaging his right hand.

"Would you like some help?" Draco asked tentatively, slowly leaving the last step of the short staircase. Admittedly the dark haired young man didn't appear to need any help but it was a good way to start the up-coming conversation.

"Your assistance is unnecessary." Came the monotone answer.

"Oh..." The blonde murmured. A few seconds of awkward silence passed before he managed to build up his courage again. "I'm sorry I punched you, and for the things I said. I shouldn't have said what I did and I shouldn't have hit you."

"You were upset and I antagonised you; you reacted naturally."

"That still doesn't make what I said and did right." Draco disagreed, thinking at the back of his mind that Snape had been right about the boy's reaction to the situation. He glanced over to where the dark haired boy was clearly having a bit of trouble securing the bandage to his hand. "Here, let me tie that off for you." He offered as he moved over and took the injured hand in both of his. Harry neither moved nor spoke but allowed his hand to be pulled into the blonde's grip. "I really am sorry for what I did Harry..."

"What?" Harry interrupted suddenly, lifting his head finally, his eyes widening slightly in surprise.

"What, what?" Draco asked, also looking up, confused.

"You...Used my first name...Why?"

"What else am I supposed to call you?"

"You do not call Professor Snape by his name."

"Sure I do, I call him Sev, that's my name for him. It's an abbreviation of his first name. Can't really do the same for you what with your name being Harry. I have a friend at school who insists on calling me Drake but I really hate that." Draco chattered, obviously now completely at ease as he continued his task of tying off the length of bandage.

"A first name is for use between friends, yes? You said you hated me before."

Draco paused for a moment, keeping his head bowed so he didn't have to meet the green eyes he knew were staring straight and him, before he eventually continuing what he was doing with the bandage. "Yes I did, and I'm sorry for it. I didn't mean it. I don't hate you, not at all. In fact, I really admire you. Sev explained everything to me and...Well, I didn't know everything before, or at least I didn't understand it, but now I do and it can't be easy for you, suddenly being in the middle of all of this without expecting to be...Must be hard." The dark haired boy said nothing in reply to that and simply watched as Draco finished tying his bandage. With it done, the blonde straightened up and offered Harry a genuine smile. "I'd better get out of your way I suppose since we're okay now. Sev will no doubt come back down to help once I go back up. I guess I'll see you later." Draco said before turning and walking towards the stone steps. The dark haired teenager never took his eyes off of him as he left and so was still watching as the Slytherin turned at the bottom of the stairs to look at him again. "I'm glad we're finally friends." The blonde said with a smile before heading up the stairs leading back up to the rest of the house.

"Friends..." Harry echoed as Draco left him and he stared down at his bandaged hand in slight wonder.

* * *

Friendship. An odd concept. What use was it? Love between a man and a woman could be explained as a method to ensure successful breeding. The love between a parent and a child could be explained as a method of ensuring that infant's survive when they are too young to look after themselves. But friendship...He could see no use for it, he could gather no beneficial purpose of it, he didn't know why it existed. 

Harry had seen friendship in his dreams. He had seen the teenagers of Hogwarts journey around in their pairs and groups, he was aware of the friendship which had been shared between James Potter and Sirius Black and others. It wasn't an uncommon relationship to share with someone and yet, to Harry, it made no sense. To him, a friendship included everything that love did but without the advantage of breeding, just all the negative parts. It weakened you, it distracted you from your goal, it made you act irrationally.

So if it was so useless, why had Draco Malfoy called them friends? And why did the fact the blonde boy had make Harry feel so...Odd?

"Potter?" Snape's voice suddenly called, his voice travelling through the wood of the closed door of the study where Harry was currently staring out of the window. "Malfoy and I have been called to the Dark Lord."

A strange feeling swept through Harry at that, something he had never experienced before, and he quickly stood and moved out of the study without really thinking about it. He made his way through the short, narrow corridor which led into the living room, his pace hurried but never breaking into a run, and upon reaching the room where the front door was located, he stopped quickly at the bottom of the staircase and watched as the two Slytherin's adjusted their cloaks and masks. "When do you expect to return?" The dark haired teenager asked quietly.

"We should be no more than an hour." Snape told him briskly before he pulled something out of his pocket, Harry couldn't quite see what it was, and held it out to Malfoy. The blonde took hold of it too and, seconds later, they had disappeared; it had obviously been a Portkey.

Once again, Harry was alone and still that odd feeling remained. It made his chest tighten and the rest of him felt incredibly restless. He didn't want the two men to leave to a place where they would definitely be in danger. But that made no logical sense as they had to go so they wouldn't arouse suspicion and could continue with their valuable spy work. The logical side of Harry's mind pointed out why they had to go but another side, a side he didn't understand and had never really felt before, just wanted them to stay in the safe house, with him, where he knew it was safe or where he would be able to protect them both if the worst was to happen.

He didn't know why he was feeling that way or even what the feeling meant. As with so many thing in this new world of awareness, it was very odd.

* * *

How long had he been sitting there, on the third step of the stairs, his eyes never leaving the front door? It was hard to remember given the fact he hadn't really been paying attention to the passage of time. It had long since grown dark outside though which told Harry one thing; it had been at least an hour since Snape and Malfoy had left. The question of where they were didn't stop swimming around his mind which was pointless; if he hadn't known the answer the first time he'd asked himself, why would he bother to ask the question another thirty times? Yet that didn't stop the question from yelling itself in his mind and forcing him to think about it and ponder it and want to know the answer. The little comfort he did have was that he was pretty sure that neither of the Death Eaters had been killed. If something had happened to arouse Voldemort of their treachery, no doubt Snape would've told him beforehand. Since he had been told nothing of the sort and he didn't think Voldemort would kill either Snape or Malfoy on a sudden accusation without a thorough investigation beforehand, he was pretty confident that they were both alive. 

When the front door, directly in front of him, suddenly burst open, Harry didn't even flinch. He merely focussed his gaze calmly in time to see Snape, with Malfoy in his arms, collapse when he was barely two steps inside the house. The two Slytherins landed with a horrible thud and then made no more movement or gave any signs that either were conscious anymore.

For several long moments, Harry simply stared down at where they lay, himself and everything around him completely still. Then, finally, he stood and descended the two steps necessary and then continued on until he was at their sides. Kneeling next to them, he checked their pulses in turn, moving from Malfoy onto Snape when he found the weak, though steady, beating. Once he had done that, Harry stood back up and waved his hand towards the door which led down to the basement. The door opened but nothing more came as Harry waved his hand over Snape to lift him magically before he repeated the gesture in the Malfoy's direction. When both Death Eater's were off of the floor and out of the way of the front door, Harry gently rested his palm on the surface to slowly guide it shut before taking the injured men further into the living room. As he set Malfoy out on the two-seat sofa a whole array of pots and vials and bottles came floating out of the basement and over to Harry. He left them hanging in mid-air as he settled the Potions Master on the three-seat sofa before then plucking the glass containers out of the air as he needed them.

Not knowing exactly what the two men had suffered and having no way to find out for sure while they were both still unconscious, Harry had to make the treatment very general. He made both the Death Eaters take a dose of a pain-numbing potion, a potion which would counter the after effects of the Cruciatus, (he knew well that Voldemort favoured that spell and had undoubtably used it) as well as some Dreamless Sleep so that could properly rest and wouldn't wake up and insist on walking around before they had slept sufficiently. He checked them for any other injuries such as cuts or bruising or even broken bones but found nothing which was lucky as it would have been hard to apply any salve to them with his right hand completely covered in bandages, (he had found quickly once his right hand had been taken out of action that he had very little control of his left hand). Finally, when he felt he had done as much as he could for the two Death Eaters, the dark haired youth conjured a couple of blankets which he lay over Snape and Malfoy who were hopefully now sleeping peacefully rather than being unconscious.

Silently, Harry gathered all the empty vials and bottles he had made and took them into the kitchen where the Potions Master would no doubt clean them in a way that he saw fit. He left the kitchen straight after that and walked through the living room again, without even looking at the sleeping men, heading straight to the study where he took up his usual position in the armchair beside the corner table. Then, as though nothing had happened at all, he picked up the latest book he was using and continued with it.

* * *

End of Chapter 4.  
Draco's been a jerk but perhaps an out-burst like that was just what Harry needed, hmm? This chapter was hard to write. I'm still not completely satisfied with it, it seems to me things have moved along too much and very suddenly. The re-writes I tried I disliked even more though, hence the reason it stayed like this. Sigh, stupid Potter block -.-  
Okie dokes, I'm off for now. Toodles for now everyone :)

Hugs  
Dream


	5. Chapter 5

Hi everyone :)

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far and who reviewed the last chapter :) I'm glad everyone's enjoying everything so far. Oh, and thank you all for the encouragement that you all thought that the last chapter wasn't rushed or anything, that was very reassuring.  
Okie dokie, now to take a moment to talk about something. I recieved a review from a lovely reader who pointed out that she, (I assume it was a she, most of us are girls after all XD) thought that Harry's search for the Horcruxes was going a bit too fast. True, no one else has said this but I thought some of you might be thinking it so I decided to write a note here instead of simply replying to the review. There is an explanation as to how Harry is finding the Horcruxes so easily and so fast, it's not just a thing that's happening because I was too lazy to drag it out, there is a reason why and it's revealed in two chapters...Three chapters?...I can't remember exactly but it's sometime soon XD  
Right, I'm done for now, on with the story.

* * *

When Snape woke the next morning, he was rather astonished about just how well he felt. After Draco had basically told the Dark Lord off for not planning to save Lucius from receiving the Kiss, both he and the young Malfoy had been punished with several rounds of the Cruciatus curse. Thankfully, they were dismissed almost straight after the Dark Lord was through with them which meant he didn't have to hold onto his consciousness for that much longer. The moment he had been allowed to go, he had picked up Draco, who had passed out sometime during the torture, activated their Portkey back to the cottage and got them through the front door before promptly passing out. 

He had fully expected to wake up where he had passed out on the floor, suffering from the stiff, aching body and the pounding headache which usually went hand-in-hand with being put under the Cruciatus for any length of time. But, instead, he was greeted with a soft sofa, a warm blanket, no headache and no pain or stiffness at all. How was it possible though? It couldn't have been Draco; not only had the boy been out cold but he wasn't strong enough to get a fully grown man such as himself from the front door and up onto the sofa even if he hadn't been suffering from the same effects he had.

A groan from the blonde in question pulled the man from his thoughts and he looked over to see the young aristocrat stirring. Draco yawned and stretched before sitting up, moving his legs over the side of the sofa and rubbing his eyes to clear the sleep away no doubt. "Did you stuff me full of potions or was last night just a dream?"

"Neither." Snape answered, also sitting up. "I don't know why we're both in such fine health after last night's events."

Draco frowned lightly at that before sniffing the air delicately. "Are you cooking breakfast?"

"Do I look as though I have left this sofa yet?"

"Well no, but I smell bacon, and if you're not cooking it, who is?" The young man inquired.

The two Slytherins shared a look which seemed to ask a silent question. Then, together, they both stood and hurried to the kitchen door. Low and behold, there, standing in front of the cooker, was Harry Potter.

* * *

Cooking, Harry was finding, could be quite pleasurable. He'd never done it before, (though he knew how it was basically all done having watched people in his dreams do it), always either eating something Snape had cooked for him or eating things raw like fruit or bread. It had always seemed like such chore to him when there were things which could be eaten with little or no preparation so he had never tried, but now he had, he admitted he could see why some people could do it for a living or a hobby. Of course, when you got burnt it wasn't much fun as he had discovered. Over the course of the night, the pain receptors in his nerves must have finally woken up because when a spit of hot oil from the bacon splashed his arm, it hurt a Hell of a lot more than it had when the cup had practically burnt his hand off, which was now rather sore as well. 

He had woken in the arm chair in the study early that morning and, after a bit more reading, had decided that he was hungry. So, he headed out to the kitchen, intending on merely grabbing some fruit to satisfy himself with. Of course, he had to go through the living room to get to the kitchen and that was when he saw the two sleeping men on the sofas, exactly where he had left them the night before. It occurred to him that they would both probably be hungry when they woke up and in no state to make something for themselves, so with little to no thought, his plan had changed. No longer would he settle on fruit. Instead, he'd cook something and make something for the two Slytherins as he did so. It was only when he actually began to cook that he questioned why he was doing it and no matter how long he thought about it, he couldn't answer himself, something which was becoming disturbingly common.

Harry became aware of the presences of Malfoy and Snape the moment they reached the entrance to the kitchen, they weren't being particularly quiet after all. He chose to ignore them though. If they wanted to question him then they could but he wasn't going to volunteer answers if only because he wouldn't be able to explain them. However, when a few minutes had passed and still they had said nothing, he found he had to say something as the bacon was ready and the microwave had just sounded to alert him to the fact that the scrambled eggs were cooked as well.

"Good morning." He greeted them quietly, the words sounding foreign to him; it was the first time he had ever said them. Words of greeting. They seemed so unnecessary, merely a delay in the conveying of information and yet, somehow, they did serve a purpose.

"Um...Morning." Malfoy replied, sounding unsure of the situation.

"You should sit down." Harry instructed them as he used some metal tongs to remove the six rashers of bacon from under the grill and set them on three plates, two on each. As he went over to the microwave to retrieve the eggs, he heard the sound of the two men walking further into the room, pulling out the chairs of the kitchen table and then scooting forward into position. "I have located another Horcrux; Riddle's diary has made its way into a bookstore in Knockturn Alley." He said, mostly to Snape as he broke up the cooked egg in the bowl and then dished some out onto each plate. "I shall retrieve it tonight."

"I've been trying to pin-point its current location for years; how did you find it?" Snape inquired as Harry took the pieces of toast from the toaster and placed those and some already cooked slices on each plate.

"I have my methods." Was all the dark haired youth replied as he picked up the plates meant for the two Death Eaters and brought them over to the table, placing them in front of the two Slytherins both in turn. Once he had set them down, he turned and went back to his plate, the sound of metal cutlery on porcelain immediately starting behind him. He had fully intended on taking it back to the study and cloistering himself away again but a small part of him stopped himself from doing that and, eventually, it made him ask: "For what reason were you both punished last night?"

The sounds behind him stopped and for a moment there was complete silence. Then, quietly, Snape replied. "Draco spoke out of line while in the presence of the Dark Lord."

"I see." Was the only reply Harry gave to that before he picked up his plate and cutlery and turned, heading straight for the doorway.

"Potter." Snape called after him and, for some weird reason unknown to him, Harry stopped as he was supposed to. "Why do you ask?"

Harry remained silent for a long while after that question was voiced. Why did he ask? He hadn't intended to ask, it wasn't necessary information after all, it was irrelavent to his search for the Horcruxes. But he had felt compelled to inquire for some reason. Was it for the same reason he had helped the two Death Eaters the night before when they had been quite clearly injured? Was it for the same reason he had felt that strange feeling when he had watched them go to the meeting, knowing they could get hurt? And if it was all because of that one reason, what was it? Why was he suddenly acting in this strange manner?

"I do not know." The stoic young man finally replied in a voice which was barely above a whisper but could easily be heard in the silent kitchen, answering both Snape's and his own question. No comment was made in return to that and Harry bowed his head a little and closed his eyes for a second. "If you will excuse me." He requested, opening his eyes again. Without waiting for an answer, he left the kitchen and went straight to the study.

* * *

With very little care, Harry searched through Draco's trunk full of his clothes, trying to find something casual that he could wear. Retrieving Riddle's diary wasn't going to be like getting the other Horcruxes. With the others, he'd been able to remain out of sight because he'd had to break in somewhere to get them; therefore he hadn't had to consider what clothes he was wearing. This time it was going to be different. The diary was actually in a shop, meaning he'd have to be seen, (hence finding suitable clothing) and also meaning that he'd have to interact with at least one other person, (the shop keeper) and it was that last bit which had Harry thinking. 

Harry knew he wasn't normal and he knew he acted no where near what could be called normal, even without Draco telling him that was the case and saying he was dead inside. He was trying to work on his behaviour, he really was, but it was all so new and difficult and, dare he say it, frightening. People were hard to figure out. There was no way to tell what they were thinking or planning on doing next and that un-nerved him. Before, it had been all right. Before he had watched everything safely from the side and hadn't taken part in anything. With Snape and Malfoy it was manageable because they were hardly the most sociable people in the world, (well, at least Snape wasn't) and, to an extent, they both followed fairly predictable behaviour patterns. Going out into the wide world and interacting with complete strangers who he hadn't had a chance to study at all, his behaviour was going to attract attention and that was the last thing he wanted because that was going to create a chance for Voldemort to find out about him.

As far as Harry knew, (from what Snape had told him) Voldemort was none the wiser to his existence. As far as the Dark Lord was concerned, Harry Potter had died along with his parents on that Hallowe'en night. That gave Harry and the Light the advantage; he could run around doing his business without having to be aware of the fact that Death Eaters might come marching along at any moment and cause a problem. If Voldemort did find out about him and what he was doing, things would become a lot harder and happen a lot slower and that was something the Light just couldn't afford.

A knock suddenly sounded at the closed door of Draco's bedroom. Harry didn't bother to look up or even stop looking through the trunk, he just lifted his right hand and flicked it in the direction of the door. As it swung open slowly, he returned to looking through the trunk with both hands as whoever it was that knocked entered the bedroom. "Have you found anything suitable?" It was Snape's voice which spoke.

"The majority is too refined and would attract unwanted attention." Harry replied, pausing in his search to hold up a plain, white cotton shirt he had just found. "There are some items which are suitable however." He murmured before going back to looking through the trunk.

"Why don't you try transfiguring it into something more suitable?" The man suggested, remaining in his position by the open bedroom door.

"That may prove to be unnecessary." Was the only reply that got before a short period of silence took them over. Then, when a few minutes had passed and still Snape was standing at the doorway watching Harry, the dark haired teenager voiced something which had been on his mind since he had entered the bedroom and started his search. "Draco Malfoy was not present when I entered this room."

"He's in one of the spare bedrooms; thinking, no doubt." Snape revealed, knowing that the statement was actually a question of where the blonde was.

"Thinking of what?"

"His father, Lucius; he receives the Kiss this evening."

Harry stopped his movements then and remained silent for a considerable length of time. Thoughts swirled around his mind, challenging everything he had been told in his dreams and through the influence of Dumbledore to believe in all his life. For a Death Eater to receive the Kiss was justice and justice was the most pure and beautiful thing in creation. Yet what about the families left behind because of justice? What about their pain? Their lives? Was there justice in the ruining of a family just because of one person's fault? Should a life be taken in compensation for another life? Was there justice in death?

Slowly, Harry's eyes flickered from staring down at his knees to looking back into the trunk. He brought his arms back up to it and brought out the first pair of trousers he was able to get his hands on. "These will be sufficient." He said before standing with them and the white shirt he had pulled out before. They probably did look a bit too expensive and would draw some attention to him but he just wanted to get on with retrieving the Horcrux so he could focus on that instead of questioning everything he had ever known.

"I will leave you to change then." Snape said as he turned and began to leave. "You will be Apparating from here?"

"Yes." Harry replied, already pulling free the few buttons which held the collar of the black robe he was currently wearing to his neck.

"I will see you in the basement upon your return then." With that, the door to the bedroom slowly closed with a light click, signalling that Severus Snape had left the room.

Harry stripped and then dressed again quickly before grabbing a small wallet which rested on the dressing table and contained a fair amount of money to use to buy the diary with. He checked its contents over quickly before putting it in his pocket. Then, he went to Apparate but stopped upon hearing a sound. It was a faint sound and one he'd never heard before. He knew the word to describe it though; whimpering. It was definitely a whimpering he could hear which meant someone was crying.

Concentrating on the sound carefully, Harry followed it to the right-hand wall, the one the bed was pushed against. He stopped when he reached it and pressed his ear closer to the surface, trying to determine if the sound was actually coming from the adjacent room. Indeed, the sound did come, a little clearer now that he was closer to the source, and with a hitched sob came one word:

"Father."

Harry flinched away from the wall as though he had been stung once he had heard the one word. He stopped when he was about a foot away from the wall and although he could still hearing the crying, it wasn't as definite anymore and he definitely couldn't make out any actual words. The one crying was obviously Malfoy and that realisation made the dark haired youth's heart sting in a most unpleasant manner.

Draco Malfoy. Harry wasn't sure about the teenager who was but a month older than himself. Ever since the previous day, when the blonde had punched him and said that they were now friends, he had been more respectful in a way. He had continued to bring Harry his meals but he had failed to use that as an excuse to linger behind and try to engage in conversation as he usually did. The odd attempt to start a conversation had occurred during the day but only when it was painfully obvious that the saviour was not in the middle of anything. And, for some reason, Harry had not simply ignored the Malfoy.

For a long moment, the dark haired teenager simply stared at the wall, thinking over the events of that day before worrying and disturbing thoughts began to run through his head. He was considering...Merlin, he was actually considering going and...For someone, like him, who had been told their whole life that they were destined to do only one thing and then to go in a total opposite direction and go and...Could he really do it? Could he live with himself if he did it? Could he live with himself if he didn't? Would it even work? Was it worth the risk? Why did he want to do it? Why now? Why so suddenly?

Another soft sob floating through the wall and Harry suddenly knew. He knew what he had to do, he knew he didn't care about the consequences and he knew why he had to do it. And so he left. He Apparated away, though not to Knockturn Alley as he was supposed to.

* * *

To spend any amount of time in Azkaban was depressing, to say the least. But to stay in Azkaban longer than you really expected to, that was far too depressing for words. 

Lucius really hadn't been too worried when he had been sentenced to a term in Azkaban. He was the Dark Lord's right-hand man, surely he would be broken out because, well, he was indispensable. Without him the Death Eaters would be nothing. He'd done so much for the cause in all areas. He'd offered financial support, he'd done more than his fair share of raids and he had recruited more new members than any other Death Eater. All of that considered, the Dark Lord would surely retrieve him before the place got too tiresome.

But no one had come for him. The days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months and then a year had passed by...And then the worst had happened; it had been declared that he was to be given the Kiss by one of the few remaining Dementors which were left. In only a few hours, his soul would be sucked out of him. Surely if he was going to be saved, it would have already happened by now. All his years of work and loyalty and this was his reward, a life as a souless shell.

If, through some twist of fate, he ever got the chance, Lucius swore that he would get his revenge somehow.

* * *

Harry edged around a corner carefully, peeking around it to make sure no one was ahead of him before looking back over his shoulder to check no one was suddenly following him. He was thankful for the fact he had decided to go with soft-soled shoes as it meant he made very little noise when he moved and, considering where he was, making no noise was essential. Due to his slightly messy entrance when he first Apparated in, his clothes were dirtied with dust which helped him in blending in the his surroundings a bit more than he would have if everything was still clean and crisp as it was before. 

This was the first time Harry had gone into something so blindly. He had no idea of what the layout of the area was, he had no idea where he was actually going and he only had a vague idea of the possible opponents that he was at risk of confronting. It wasn't ideal but he supposed when you just decided to do something on the spur of the moment, it was obviously going to happen. He didn't like it though and simply wanted to get in, get out and then get back to the safe house where things were familiar and he could go back to doing what he was supposed to be doing instead of...Personal errands.

Harry ran down another corridor which appeared to be exactly the same as the one before, the grey stone walls occasionally interrupted by thick, steel bars blocking off smaller rooms, most of which housed people sleeping in the corners, curled into themselves to try and keep warm no doubt. It was a sad sight but it was their own fault. These men and women were criminals and if they hadn't wanted such a fate, they would have remained honest. Despite the opinion, there was an exception in Harry's mind and it was based merely on who the man's son was. He still couldn't understand why he was actually risking so much to free a man who everyone knew was a Death Eater. To be honest, he had stopped asking himself; it was easier that way.

Finally, after what seemed like a terribly long time, Harry saw the long, white-ish hair of the man he was looking for. He glanced over his shoulder one last time to make sure there was still no on behind him before he hurried up to the cell. The man inside was in a corner, (as everyone seemed to be) leaning back and to the side as well. His hair was tangled and had lost its beautiful colour, looking rather grey like everything else in the place did and the prison robes he wore made him look far too thin. This was a perfect example of how this monstrous place could shatter even the proudest of men and Harry was unsure whether that was something to be pleased with or not.

Reaching the bars to the cell the man was in, Harry paused, bringing a hand to lightly hold one of the bars. "Lucius Malfoy?" He said in his usual monotoned voice.

The head of dirty, blonde hair lifted and hard grey eyes settled on him. "Yes?" The voice was somewhat hoarse but it was still strong and held a biting edge to it.

"I am here to retrieve you." Harry said simply before turning his attention onto the lock on the cell door.

A few seconds of silence passed before Lucius Malfoy spoke again: "You're not a guard, you're too young, so who are you?"

Harry hesitated a moment before answering: "I am a companion of your son's."

"You're a friend of Draco's?" Lucius checked slightly desperately as he forced himself onto his feet. "How is he? Is he safe? And Narcissa, do you know..."

"Draco is well and remains in a safe house with myself and Professor Severus Snape. As for your wife I have had no contact with her." Harry answered dutifully while trying to concentrate on the lock to figure out what charms were used to secure it.

"Do you know if Draco's got the Mark yet?" The man asked as he came right up to the bars of the cell.

"If you would with-hold your questions for a moment so that I can unlock this door." Was Harry's only reply to that and, thankfully, the eldest Malfoy fell silent as he was asked.

As Harry was now fully able to concentrate on the lock, it was simple to unlock it. With a mere jerk of his hand over the lock, there was the sound of snapping metal before the clunk of a lock sliding away came. Lucius wasted no time and grabbed the door, throwing it in front of himself. It swung open, Harry only just managing to step back in time to avoid getting himself hit in the face. The blonde man stumbled out awkwardly and the dark haired teenager lurched forward just in time to steady him. As he did that though, the call from a near-by voice came:

"Oi, what are you doing in there?"

Someone was coming! Harry had to hurry otherwise they would both be caught and all of this would have been for nothing. He quickly adjusted his hold on Lucius, who was having trouble keeping on his feet apparently, into a better one which was easier for himself and probably more comfortable for the aristocrat as well. It also served to give Harry a better grip on the man which he would need for when they Apparated away which was going to have to be very soon if the approaching footsteps were anything to go by.

"Are you ready to leave?" He checked in a rather breathless, hurried tone; Lucius looked lighter than he actually was.

Before the Malfoy could reply however, two of the Auror guards which had been brought in after the majority of the Dementors had rebelled, rounded the corner and easily spotted them as they were in plain sight. Everything that happened then passed so fast that it was pretty much a blur for both of the escapees. Literally seconds before Harry managed to Apparate himself and Lucius away, one of the guards cast a spell at him or Lucius; either way, Harry was the one it hit.

A terrible, awful sensation shot through Harry's entire body, like the sensation he had felt earlier that day when he had burned his arm while making breakfast only so much worse. An unfamiliar, repulsive scent of something hot and metallic reached his nose as a tortured cry tore itself from his throat just as he and Lucius disappeared with a pop and continued on when they reappeared in the living room of the safe house he was sharing with the younger Malfoy and Snape. It was the most intense, horrible thing the teenager had ever felt and it drained him terribly. Just as he heard rushing footsteps on wooden boards, the sensation became too much and lost his hold on consciousness and reality.

* * *

End of Chapter 5.  
Cliffhanger! Mwahaha:D Not a terribly bad one, (at least I don't think it is) but should be enough to keep you all guessing until the next chapter :D  
I have good news! I have completed the final chapter of this! So, starting from now, updates shall be bumped up to once a week, every Friday. I would post more frequently but I want to give myself the time to also get a decent amount of the sequel to this done before I start posting it. I really hate not being ahead of myself in what I post, makes me feel really uncomfortable and an uncomfortable author is a less effective author :D  
The time has arrived to say toodles once again and I shall see you all in another ten days :)

Hugs  
Dream


	6. Chapter 6

Hi everyone :)

So many lovely reviews! And I'm almost at 100 already! That makes me so happy :)  
Okie dokie, one of my lovely reviwers asked me how long this is going to be. The answer; not long at all. It's 10 chapters in total. But before you all start to weep at the shortness, do remember that there will be the sequel which, although I have no idea how long it will be, I'm pretty sure will be more than 10 chapters, (I already have three chapters written so far). For a time, I did consider simply tagging the sequel in along with this but the sequel, (still unnamed as well XD) has the same lay out as Family Means More Than Blood and I figured it'd be strange if the format suddenly changed halfway through a story.  
Okay, I've said enough for now, please enjoy this chapter :)

* * *

The moment consciousness began to return to him, Harry's body suddenly felt terrible. An intense sensation was spread throughout his entire body and it wasn't the least bit pleasant. It was nothing like he had ever felt before and he never wanted to feel it again. He needed to get rid of it, but how? Well, his mind thought logically, laying around as he was wasn't going to do anything to help so the first thing he needed to do was sit up and get out of the bed he was laying on. 

However, the moment he tried to move the sensation became so much more intense. He found he could only hold out against it for just long enough to sit himself up before it became too much, forcing a gasp from his throat as he doubled over, his arms coming around his waist and his head bowing as he squeezed his eyes shut against the feeling. His world seemed to be focused on that thing he was feeling, the strange agony he had never experienced before. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he acknowledged the fact that he heard a door opening very nearby but he was in no condition to do anything about it or even think of it for too long. However, when he heard the smashing of china, he forced himself to open his eyes and look up out of the corner of his eyes, turning his head only the very slightest bit.

"Sev, come quick!" The voice of Draco Malfoy yelled just as Harry managed to lift his head and open his eyes completely in order to see the young, blonde man. When the call had faded, the Slytherin hurried over to him, stepping over the tray of food he had been carrying upon entering. "What are you sitting up for! Lay back down, quickly." He instructed, reaching the dark haired boy's side and reaching his hands out to gently force him back down onto the bed with a slight pressure applied to the shoulders.

Harry gave a gasp as agony radiated from the points where Draco touched him. "Pain..." He managed to gasp upon realising what he was feeling. So this was what real, extreme pain...Nope, he didn't like it.

"Of course you're in pain you idiot!" Draco snapped through there was a definite anxiety in his tone. "Merlin know's how you're still alive after what those Aurors did to you and how much blood you lost. Now lay back and don't move."

It was then that Harry noticed his arms were almost completely wrapped in the white bandages that his burnt hand had been wrapped in the day before. Also, it felt as though they were wrapped around parts of his legs and his stomach and chest as well. There were a few spots of red on some of the bandages as well, mostly on the under-side of his forearms; was that what he had smelt just before he had Apparated with Lucius, the scent on blood? "What...Happened?" He whispered with some struggle, having to fight through the pain.

Before Draco could answer that, Snape came dashing into the room, a couple of potion bottles in hand. The blonde teenager immediately turned his attention to the man and although he never left Harry's side, he did watch the Potions Master earnestly. "He was trying to get up when I came in." He told the man as though that made some sort of difference to the situation.

"Is that the reason for the spilt food and the shattered plate sitting in the doorway?" The Potions Master inquired as he stepped over the mess and raised an eyebrow at his charge.

"I was surprised, okay! You said he wasn't going to wake up for another day!" Draco protested.

"He shouldn't have woken up until tomorrow with the number of potions I forced down his throat." Snape practically growled as he reached the bedside, as though Harry woke up early simply to cause them both worry and to prove him wrong. "Sit him up." He instructed before turning a hard look on Harry as he tried to sit up once again which was a struggle even with Draco's help. "Why didn't you tell me what you were planning you stupid boy?"

"I did not know." Harry said through a gasp as he moved a little too fast. "It was not planned."

"It wasn't planned?" The Potions Master repeated stiffly, uncorking one of the bottles as he did.

"I-I heard weeping and...Act..." Harry paused as he was fed a potion. He swallowed it dutifully, not even reacting to its foul taste, before continuing. "I acted without...Full consi-consideration."

"Well, if it means anything to you, by doing so you saved Lucius' life." Snape muttered with reluctant thanks as he took the cork out of the second bottle and pressed it to the injured boy's lips. "In more ways than one; Lucius seems to be of the opinion that the curse that hit you was meant for him and I don't think his body would have been able to take the strain."

"What was it...That was ca-cast on me?" Harry managed to get out as he was once again guided back in a lay by the blonde haired youth beside him.

"It was the Sectumsempra spell. Apparently since the loss of the Dementors, the Light have decided that some Dark spells have their uses for keeping rebellious prisoners under control. The spell is terrible even under normal circumstances but considering that you are unused to pain of any kind, it is of little surprise that you are in so much discomfort. I just gave you a pain-reliever and a calming draught. You need to rest so don't fight the sleep." The man instructed even as Harry's eyelids began to drop. However, that obviously wasn't going to stop Snape from finding out everything he wanted to know because he continued on with one last question. "Potter, why did you do go to Azkaban for Lucius instead of retrieving the Horcrux?"

"I..." The dark haired young man breathed, his neck relaxing and allowing his head to roll onto its side. "I do not know." He managed to get out before the potions over-took him and sent him into a restful sleep.

* * *

The next time Harry woke up, he was still in pain but it wasn't as bad as it had been before. For a long moment he just lay there in the bed, allowing himself to adjust to the strange sensation which, now it was bearable, he could properly think about and analyse. Pain; it was strange. It made him want to move in order to try and escape the pain, no matter that the damage had already been caused and so could no be erased, but moving only made everything hurt that little bit more. He wondered if the body actually liked pain, if it thrived from the reminder of life that the sensation gave. Perhaps then the way of pain would make some sense. 

The pain, despite being the worst thing he had ever felt, wasn't enough to keep the teenager in bed. He felt restless and knew that there were things which were far more productive that he could and should have been doing with his time instead of just laying in his bed and staring up at the ceiling or over to one of the three wall which were in his direct line of sight. So, biting against the unpleasant sensation, Harry pushed himself up into a sitting position before he gingerly slid his bandaged legs out from under the covers and resting his feet on the bare floorboards. After taking a moment to allow the slight pain to fade again and grabbing his glasses, he pushed himself up into a standing position carefully before slowly heading towards the bedroom door in order to make his way downstairs.

The entire way across the short hallway and down the stairs, Harry had to clutch at the walls and the banister to stop himself from crumbling or tipping over. The pain was still rather incredible and every movement he made hurt. His muscles felt stiff and were hard to move properly and not just because he was practically mummified with the amount of bandages he was covered in. At least he was sharing a house with a potions master and would no doubt have his wounds treated properly and have an endless supply of potions and lotions to soothe his injuries. Idly, the dark haired teenager wondered exactly what his skin looked like underneath all the protective material but he quickly decided that it was probably best he didn't know, at least for that moment.

Finally reaching the bottom of the stairs, Harry turned to his right in order to head to the study but was stopped by a single word: "Potter?" He turned and looked and saw that sitting in front of a lit fire in their own separate chairs was Snape and the youngest Malfoy. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"I am quite able to move about freely and there is work which must be done." Harry answered in his usual monotone, noticing the fact that Draco couldn't seem to look at him but choosing to ignore it.

"Are you sure? You're body has suffered a massive shock..."

"Your concern is unnecessary." The dark haired teenager cut the older man off as he turned to head to the study, the change in the Potions Master's behaviour un-nerving him slightly. Snape usually said no more than things to do with the search of the Horcruxes and this new conversation was strange and different.

"Would you care to join us? It's a cold evening and sitting in the cold will do your injuries no good." Snape pointed out, sounding nothing but inviting and it made Harry freeze on the spot in surprise. He was being invited to join the two Slytherins and not even by Draco! It was Snape! It was weird, it was strange and if there was one thing which Harry had learnt by that time, it was that strange situation should be avoided for as long as possible.

"I must decline." Harry answered, starting to walk again, trying to ignore and hide the feeling of surprise he felt at being invited to join the two Slytherins. "I have wasted too much time already; no more can be sacrificed." And with that, he finally left the living room.

His trip to the study was short as always and when he entered the dark room, he waved a hand to light the oil lamps which were dotted around on the walls and some of the tables and also the charred logs in the fireplace, silently admitting at the back of his mind that the Potions Master probably did have a point about the chill which haunted the mid-summer night. At the front of his mind, however, was just confusion: confusion over the new sensation which plagued his body; confusion as to Snape's change in behaviour; confusion as to why he had done everything he had. He still couldn't understand his own actions when it came to what he had done the previous night and it was becoming increasingly bothersome to him.

"Harry?"

"Yes?" The dark haired teenager replied, pausing and turning to face the blonde who had followed him into the room and who he had realised had followed him in a few seconds before his name had been spoken. However, what he wasn't expecting, and what slightly startled him, was the unsure expression the young Malfoy wore, something Harry had never seen before. In all the time he had spent with the young man, never had the blonde appeared anything but confident and self-assured, even when Harry had been pushing him away and acting so distantly. It was rather un-nerving and put Harry on edge slightly.

However, despite being on edge, nothing could have prepared for what happened next. In a matter of mere seconds, Draco had made his way across the room and had wrapped his arms around Harry in a tight embrace. Green eyes widened remarkably as muscles tensed in both pain as his wounds were aggrovated and anxiety at this new contact with another person. Harry's heart beat a mile a minute and it seemed that for the moment that hug continued, he forgot how to think and how to breathe.

But then, as quickly as it had begun, it had ended. Draco's arms left him and the blonde had fled the study, leaving Harry completely alone. The dark haired boy's eyes eventually refocused onto the open doorway which the young aristocrat had escaped through. Slowly, he walked over to the door and gently placed his hands on the cool, flat surface. For a long moment, he stood there and did nothing. Then, eventually, he applied a small amount of pressure and slowly guided the door shut.

* * *

Harry's eyes flew open in a second and he knew he had been woken by something rather than just having naturally left sleep behind. He was back in the room he slept in, having returned to it to sleep when common sense told him that sleeping in an armchair would do him no good with his current state of injury. The room, however, seemed completely normal and whatever it was that had caused him to wake was not immediately clear to him. He slipped his glasses onto his nose and for several seconds he simply looked around himself in confusion, trying to see if there was anything in the room which didn't belong. He noted that the window showed nothing but darkness so it must have been quite late at night for there to be absolutely no light. That was the only thing worthy of note though and so he remained confused. But then he heard something rather than saw it; soft crying, like he had heard the night before.

This time, he didn't even try to think logically about his reaction, he simply stood from the bed, wincing at the pain shooting through his body as he did so, and headed out of the bedroom, following the sound of the gentle sobbing. It led him through his ajar bedroom door, to the right and to the ajar door to the bedroom right next to his own. He stopped and peered through the gap between the door and its frame to see Malfoy sitting on a chair beside the bed his father was sleeping on. Harry had earlier been told by Snape that the elder Malfoy had apparently woken for a short while that afternoon, long enough to take some potions before he fell asleep again.

There was something about the sight of the young man quietly crying by his father's side in the glow of a single candle which stirred unknown feelings inside Harry and he felt compelled to go to the blonde's side. He followed that desire without thought and silently made his way into the bedroom and over to the hunched figure of the sobbing aristocrat. Instead of speaking to make his presence known, the dark haired teenager simply reached forward and placed his hand on the shoulder of the other.

Malfoy jumped at the contact, obviously having not expected it, and looked up quickly. Upon seeing who it was, he quickly turned away again, no doubt to try and hide the evidence that he had been crying even though it was more than apparent that was the case. "Harry; sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you." He said in a shaky tone as he brought a hand up to hastily wipe the tears from my eyes.

"Why are you crying?" Harry inquired simply, ignoring the other's apology as it was unnecessary.

Draco took in a slightly hitched breath before taking Lucius' hands in his own again. "He looks so ill." He sniffed, staring down at his sleeping father with tear-filled eyes. "I've never seen him look so terrible before."

"He has spent a year in Azkaban, it was inevitable that he would be in poor health upon his release." Harry replied reasonably.

"Yes, I know." The blonde sighed sadly, his eyes not moving. "I just...Seeing it is so...So..." He trailed off uselessly. "I just didn't expect him to look this bad I suppose."

Perhaps it was because of earlier when the blonde had embraced him or perhaps he was learning how to actually to be a normal person and feel and express emotions and empathy, but the dark haired boy felt the very definite desire to comfort the blonde boy beside him. So, feeling more than a little awkward but following some strange urge which spurred him on, Harry hesitantly reached forward and gently curled an arm around Draco's shoulder in a very loose, on-armed embrace. The young Malfoy reacted in no way and it took all of Harry's self-control to not quickly flinch away and escape to the study once again.

It obviously wasn't enough for his new found social skills though because, before he even properly realised what was going on, he was speaking words of comfort: "At least he is here where you can be with him and nurse him back to the man he once was."

Draco said nothing but released his father's hand before turning in his seat and wrapping his arms around Harry's waist, burying his face in the dark haired boy's chest all in the blink of an eye. The dark haired young man's muscles tensed and his breathing hitched for a second as a few shots of pain lanced through him at the pressure which was now being applied to his sore body, but even once that had faded Harry remained tense and didn't dare move, unsure of how to properly handle the new situation. However, finally, he followed his instincts and slowly brought his other arm up and rested his hand on top of the blonde's head. The touch was very light and loose compared to the one Draco had on his waist but that was to be expected as he had never done it before. Not that Draco seemed to care so it hardly mattered really.

* * *

End of Chapter 6.  
Gah, it's so short -.- There wasn't actually much that needed to happen in this chapter though, hence the shortness of it. I'm not keen on this chapter either, (again, I attempted a few re-writes but they were even worse) but the next chapter I do like! Next chapter will finally be something I'm happy with which is a rare thing for me to say as I'm sure my regulars know XD  
Once again the time has come to say goodbye my duckies. So, everyone take care and I'll see you all next week when I will be an official 20 year old O.o (my brithday's on the 18th and I'll no longer be a teenager, it's such a strange thought O.o).

Hugs  
Dream


	7. Chapter 7

Hi everyone :)

Thank you all so much for the reviews. I know I say it all the time but that just means I really mean it :D And we've passed the 100 mark which just makes me super happy :D  
I have nothing more to say for now so I'll allow you to get on with this chapter which is slightly longer than last :D

* * *

The sound if an opening door was enough to pull Harry out of his sleep in an instant. His eyes flew open and he lifted his head, ignoring the stiffness which seemed to have seized up every muscle in his body. Upon focusing on the sight of the door opposite him, he was rather surprised to see Lucius Malfoy, dressed in nothing but pyjamas and still appearing to be incredibly worn, standing there in the doorway, looking at him. 

After comforting the youngest Malfoy the previous night, Harry had gone down to the study in order to catch up on his search for the Horcruxes. There, he had obviously fallen asleep as he had just been woken by the eldest Malfoy, still sitting in the same chair as the night before. He hadn't meant to fall asleep if only because he knew it would lead to his current situation of horribly stiff limbs and no small amount of pain resulting from any slight movement he made. There was nothing he could do about it though so there was very little point in thinking if only he had done things differently.

"You are awake." Harry said in his usual monotone before he looked down to his book which had closed on his lap during his sleep. "Your son will be relieved."

"He is, I just sent him to bed, he needed some decent rest." Lucius said to him. Harry said nothing to that, instead opening his book and seemingly returning to it. "I know Draco has already said it, but I wanted to thank you in person. I don't know why you came and rescued me but you have my deepest thanks that you did."

"Thank you, words of gratitude..." Harry murmured at his book before lifting his gaze to the blonde man in front of him. "Why do you feel the need to say them?"

Lucius stared at Harry in a manner which suggested deep thought for several moments before he shook his head a little and his expression turned to one of disbelief. "I had thought Severus was exaggerating when he told me about you but...You honestly don't understand life, do you?"

If ever there had been a question put to Harry which had made him feel something, that had been the one. That one sentence, spoken with such disbelief and pity, made Harry feel strangely uncomfortable and he struggled for a few moments to try and get to grips with the experience. He knew that the elder Malfoy had meant nothing by it, no doubt truly wanting to know whether that was the case or not, so there was no ill feeling towards the man. Still, the question had made a good point; the dark haired teenager really didn't have much of an understanding of life. He didn't know why he felt the things he did, he didn't know why others acted the way they did, he still didn't know why he had gone and rescued Lucius of the spur of the moment as he had. It was all one massive mystery which Harry had saw now way of solving.

Was it something to be concerned about though? He had only been awake and truly alive for about two weeks and common sense said that that was not enough time to fully become accustomed to life when you were kept in one house most of the time with only two other people to communicate with and learn from. But perhaps his whole life was a cause for concern. Perhaps his inexperience and confusion at even the most simple of human emotions made him something strange despite the fact none of it was his fault and he was improving...Wasn't he?

Harry gazed down at the page he had opened his book to with unseeing eyes for the single reason that he had no desire to look at the blonde man ahead of him and see the look of pity that was no doubt being directed at him. He felt the need to reply to what had probably been a rhetorical question, to justify why he was as he was despite the fact there had been no malice in the question.

"Living is...Difficult." Harry said eventually in his usual monotone, hoping inside that Lucius could understand what he meant when he said it.

"Yes, for someone such as yourself, I imagine it is." Lucius replied sympathetically before slowly turning and leaving the room, gently shutting the door behind himself.

When the click of the door shutting came, Harry lifted his eyes to look at the spot where the Malfoy had been previously standing. "I do not need your pity." He murmured into the silence of the study before his eyes fell back down to his book and he continued with his reading.

* * *

Harry remained in the study for the majority of the morning, pointedly avoiding the other inhabitants of the house. He had no desire to be pitied further by the eldest Malfoy and no doubt the other two occupants of the house were spending time with the blonde man and so he was forced to avoid all of them. Not that he was particularly bothered and he thought that even if his absence was noticed, his presence would most likely not be missed. He was sore all over and his healing right hand was starting to get terribly itchy and irritating which was doing nothing for his mood. Plus, he felt the need to instantly catch up and get ahead of himself on the search for the Horcruxes in order to make up to the slight delay he had inflicted upon himself. After all, no one had made him or even asked him to give up an evening to rescue Lucius Malfoy instead of retrieving and destroying Riddle's diary. 

When a sudden knock came at the study door, Harry found that he was genuingly rather surprised. His eyes left his book in favour of looking at the door. "Yes?" He said by way of giving permission for whoever it was knocking to enter.

The door opened soon after that softly spoken word and in walked Draco, dressed in what Harry recognised as flying clothes and holding a broom in his right hand. The blonde looked his usual confident self which was rather reassuring for Harry, to have things back to normal with the young man. However, the blonde's presence was unexpected what with the recent retrieval of his father and the broom he held in his right hand did beg the question as to what he wanted exactly.

"Is there something you need?" Harry inquired in his usual monotone, his eyes returning to his book.

"It's a nice day outside and I'm going outside flying. I realised that you've never flown before so I just wondered if you felt like coming." Draco answered him easily.

"It may have escaped your notice but I am currently in no condition to fly." Harry replied, glancing up from his book again momentarily and seeing the look of disappointed which instantly crossed the blonde's face, gave a small sigh and looked back down to the book. "However, if it is companionship you seek, I see no reason why I cannot do my research outside today."

"Really?" Draco asked, sounding hopeful at that.

"I would not have said it if I had been speaking falsely." The dark haired teenager assured as he rose from his seat gracefully, despite his injuries. "Shall we go then?" Without waiting for an answer, he started to move towards the study's door.

Draco followed on behind him quickly, soon catching up and walking beside Harry. They didn't speak to each other, neither felt the need to. Instead, they moved in a companionable silence, both comfortable with the easy quiet. For a few minutes, the only sound came from their footsteps on the bare floorboards but then they reached the kitchen and found that Lucius and Severus were sitting at the table, both having a cup of tea.

The two men looked up upon the entrance of the two teenagers. "Going out flying." Lucius noted, making it seem more of an observation than a question.

"Mmhmm." Draco hummed in confirmation.

"You too Harry?" The blonde man tried but the only reply he got from the dark haired young man was silence. He seemed a little put off by that but before he could comment and kick up a huge fuss, Severus stepped into the conversation:

"Do you think it wise to be flying Potter?"

"He won't be." Draco answered for Harry when it was obvious he wasn't going to do so himself. "He's just coming outside to keep me company."

"And can Mr Potter not speak for himself?" Lucius asked in a somewhat dangerous tone, clearly annoyed by the dark haired teenager's continued silence.

Draco opened his mouth to answer on Harry's behalf again but was silenced what Harry spoke for himself finally. "What is the significance of where your information comes from as long as it is reliable and accurate?" He murmured before opening the back door and stepping outside into the field which stretched out all around the secluded house.

The three Slytherins watched the strange young man leave before Draco suddenly seemed to remember that he was supposed to be leaving as well, at which point he quickly moved after Harry again, leaving the house and closing the door behind himself.

* * *

Harry had decided that he quite liked the sun. He hadn't spent much time out in it before and, technically, he wasn't in it at that moment as he was safely protected under the shade of a large tree, but it wasn't night time and that was certainly different. So far, every time Harry had left the house it had beeen dark outside or at least well on the way to becoming dark. Being outside during the day meant everything was a lot brighter and also a great deal warmer. Not that the nights were cold as it was the middle of summer but it was certainly a noticeable difference to during the day. 

Above, Draco was darting around on his broom, obviously enjoying himself, while Harry got on with what he was doing on the ground. The dark haired young man had wondered at several points why the blonde had even wanted him out there as they had barely said two words to each other since leaving the house but he wasn't going to complain about it. He was slightly better at talking with people than he had been when he had first woken up but he still couldn't make small talk and probably wouldn't be able to actually start a relaxed, casual conversation if the opportunity arose.

However, in reality, they had only been outside for about half an hour at that point and moments after Harry had stopped thinking, Draco came swooping down and landed gracefully a few feet away from where the Boy-Who-Lived was sitting. The blonde walked over to the tree and sat down beside the dark haired young man heavily, close enough so that their thighs slightly touched, before leaning back against the tree trunk lazily.

For a few moments after that, the previous calm returned and neither of them spoke. Eventually thought, it was Draco who started to speak first: "What are you reading?"

"A potions textbook." Harry replied in his usual monotone.

"But aren't you supposed to researching the location of the next Horcrux?"

"I am." Harry answered. A short pause followed before Harry realised that the blonde was going to want an explanation to go with that. "I do not use the books for what they are. I use them as a means of concentrating and focusing on what I need to know. I am able to rearrange the letters on the page to discover what Horcrux is due to be retrieved and where it will be found."

"Really?" Draco gasped, sounding amazed and awed. "I've never heard of anyone being able to do that. How did you find out you were able to?"

Harry hesitated, having never really thought about it before. It had been like some sort of instinct really. The moment he had woken up, he had just known that using books in such a way was how he was supposed to find the Horcruxes. No one had ever told him, he couldn't recall Dumbledore ever saying anything of the sort to him anyway. It was just something he had known to do and had been able to do easily.

So, instead of explaining all that to the blonde, Harry settled on simply saying: "I have always known."

That seemed to be enough for the aristocrat, no doubt because he was now used to the vague and cryptic answers the dark haired youth often gave, and he allowed that subject to drop. A comfortable silence took them over again after and although there was no reason that Harry shouldn't have been able to return to his research, he found himself unable to concentrate. He couldn't put his finger on what it was that was wrong exactly, other than the curious fluttering feeling in his stomach and the desire to shift restlessly. He didn't act upon that desire but he couldn't deny that he suddenly felt much different and he wasn't sure why. The only thing which had changed was that Draco had landed and sat down next to him and surely that couldn't cause him any harm.

"Harry, can I ask you something?" Draco said to him suddenly in a somewhat sly manner.

"Yes."

"Do you know what a kiss is?"

"A touch or a caress with the lips, usually exchanged between two people who hold an affection for each other." Harry answered, his eyes not moving from his book.

"You've never had one, have you?" The blonde continued to inquire.

"My mother and father no doubt kissed me when I was a baby."

"But you've never been kissed on the lips have you?"

Harry's eyes finally flickered onto the young man sitting beside him. "Why are you asking me these questions?"

"Would you like a kiss?" Draco murmured softly, leaning in closer.

"What makes you think that is even a possibility?" The dark haired boy questioned as he looked up from his book fully, obviously now fairly interested in where their conversation was going.

The blonde shrugged. "I just thought you might be curious. Are you?"

Harry opened his mouth to answer but never got the chance to actually speak as within a second, Draco had closed the gap between them and had pressed his lips to the dark haired teenager's. Bright green eyes widened in shock and he felt powerless to do anything as the blonde continued to kiss him quite easily. When a hand came up to stroke his cheek and something warm and slippery entered his mouth, all of Harry's sense and thought left him. His eyes drifted shut of their own accord and slowly, very tentatively, he began to respond to the kiss, acting purely on instincts he never knew he had.

The kiss ended slowly, Draco pulling away little by little and, in the end, not even properly breaking their contact, their lips still lightly brushing together. Harry's eyes flew open instantly once the kiss had stopped and a bright blush had lit his face, giving his cheeks the most colour since he had woken up from his long sleep. Draco was a lot more calm and controlled about it all and opened his eyes gradually, smirking lightly when he saw the slightly shocked and speechless expression which was on the face of the Boy-Who-Lived.

"There," the blonde said in barely a whisper. "That wasn't so bad for your first kiss, was it?"

Harry struggled with his voice for several moments before he swallowed and then managed to reply. "I have had worse experiences."

"Perhaps it's something you wouldn't mind doing again then, hmm?" Draco suggested.

"I-I suppose that would...Not be so terrible." The dark haired teenager managed to stammer, leaning back slightly to try and put some distance in between himself and the other young man.

Draco smirked at that and finally backed away. "I'll look forward to it." He grinned before reaching to the side and grabbing his broomstick. Then, with no more words, the blonde stood, straddled his broom and then took off, going back to enjoying himself in the air.

Harry watched him go, feeling completely and utterly confused by what had just happened.

* * *

Eventually, the sky had darkened with the setting sun and evening came calling for Harry and Draco to finally go back inside the cottage. The four residents of the house ate a small dinner together before retreating into the living room where, for several hours, they had all sat in relative silence as Harry read from his position on the sofa and Severus and Lucius played chess while Draco watched. It was actually getting very late when finally, it was Harry who broke the silence:

"How long will it be before I am fully healed?"

Although it wasn't said, the question was obviously directed to Severus and so he was the one who answered: "It's hard to say exactly but I shouldn't think you'll be up to doing anything too strenuous for the next week or so."

"That will not be possible; Riddle's diary must be retrieved as quickly as possible and too much time has been wasted already." Harry insisted monotonely.

"Then I'll go and get it." Severus said firmly. "I believe I have some Polyjuice potion in stock so I can work undetected. You merely need to tell me where to go and I will be able to handle the rest."

"How many of the Horcruxes are there left to destroy now?" Lucius inquired curiously.

"Once we have dealt with the diary there will only be one left." Severus answered his friend.

"That'll be Nigini then." The mature blonde told them.

"His familiar?" Draco said with a light frown of confusion. "I didn't know living things could be made into Horcruxes."

Lucius nodded. "It is possible and I'm quite sure it's the case. I was very close to the Dark Lord for quite some time and although I was never told anything of the such out-right, there were several comments and happenings which could easily be pieced together in such a way."

"Well, it's the best lead we have so far." Severus admitted. "I would recommend you continue your research however Potter." He said to Harry who had fallen out of the conversation.

"Of course." Harry agreed and despite the fact it was an agreement, it sounded more like it was nothing more than a confirmation that the Potions Master had spoken.

Severus seemed completely fine with that however and said nothing on the subject. Instead, he got to his feet while saying: "As I will have to leave quite early tomorrow morning in order to avoid detection, I shall retire to bed early. Good night to you all."

"Good night Severus." Lucius wished as the black eyed man began to head towards the stairs.

"Night Sev." Draco called after the man.

Harry, as expected, remained silent.

For an hour or so after that, the situation returned to that which it had been before, with Harry keeping to himself while Lucius and Draco amused themselves with chess. Then, eventually, Lucius retired, leaving only the two young men alone in the room. The blonde teenager watched his father go intently and when he was completely sure the man was gone, he stood from where he was sitting and strutted confidently over to the dark haired teenager on the sofa.

Harry was well aware of the presence of Draco sitting on the sofa beside him but chose to ignore it. However, when the book he was reading was abruptly pulled from his hands, he felt he had to protest: "What do you think..." His sentence ended rather abruptly as he lost his voice upon the blonde curling an arm around his shoulders. He tensed instantly at the contact, much to the Slytherin's disapproval.

"No, now don't do that." Draco scolded him lightly as he pulled the dark haired young man closer to his body. "Just relax."

"But..." Harry tried.

"But nothing." The blonde interrupted. "Like I said, just calm down and relax, nothing bad is going to happen."

That wasn't the point as far as Harry was concerned but he was sure that Draco wouldn't understand that. The inexperienced teenager released a slightly shaky breath and tried to force himself to relax in the blonde's loose embrace. It was a battle of wills and not in the least relaxing in itself but eventually, after a lot of mental arguing with himself, Harry managed to calm himself down enough to relax against the Slytherin's side. Cautiously, he allowed himself to lean in closer and as he did so, the arm around his shoulders gave him a small squeeze and a pressure came to rest on top of his head. It all startled him a little in the second after it happened but then Harry calmed himself down again and allowed the cuddling to continue.

As the minutes passed by, Harry had to finally admit, if only silently and to himself, that the position he was in with Draco was...Nice. It was warm, it was comfortable and it gave him a sense of acceptance and the knowledge that, just maybe, someone cared for him. Did Draco care for him? He had kissed him and he was the one to initiate the position they were currently in...But did that mean there was anything more there than a physical attraction or the desire to have the Boy-Who-Lived on his arm?

"What are you thinking?" Draco murmured to him gently, the movement of his jaw being felt by Harry on the top of his head.

Harry hesitated a moment, not saying anything as he thought over what would be best to say. The truth could possibly hurt feelings which was something he didn't really want to do. So, eventually, he settled on the much more simple thought which had occurred to him when the cuddle had begun: "You are...Warm."

The dark haired young man felt his companion smile against his hair before the lips stiffened in a kiss. "Is that a good thing?" Came the slightly amused reply.

"Yes." Harry murmured truthfully. Once again, his shoulder was squeezed and another kiss was pressed to the top of his head.

"Good."

* * *

End of Chapter 7.  
They kissed! Woo! And they had a bit of a cuddle :D And we found out how Harry's been finding the Horcruxes so quickly; I hope no one's disappointed with the explanation :)  
Three more chapters left now :) Catch you all next week my lovelies.

Hugs  
Dream


	8. Chapter 8

Hi everyone :)

Reviews! Oh, the reviews make me happy and just when I need it most. You know, it's amazing what a few months away from something does to your memory. Only now that I'm back at university do I fully remember just how sucky it is -.-  
I won't say anymore, I'll just let you all get on with this latest chapter :)

* * *

A week passed. Riddle's diary was retrieved and destroyed leaving only one more Horcrux and Voldemort himself to deal with. Neither Harry or the three Slytherins had any real idea what the sixth Horcrux was but their best bet yet was still that it was Nagini and that left the question of how they were going to deal with her. She never left Voldemort's side after all. Snape's idea of feeding her poison to slow her down and then just dropping her into a cauldron of their potion was the only idea they had which might just possibly work.

However, at that very moment, the trouble with Voldemort and the Horcruxes wasn't the most important issue on Harry's mind. No, at that moment, he was desperately trying to think of a way to get out of what Draco had talked him into doing; for the first time, he was going to ride a broom. As he was no longer so badly injured and the majority of his bandages were off now, he no longer had that excuse to save him from the experience, which was unfortunate because he was completely petrified of the idea of flying. Finally he was aware of what true fear actually felt like and it wasn't induced by Voldemort or Death Eaters of anything of the sort. Instead, it was brought on by the prospect of riding a broom. Life was funny like that really.

As the dark haired young man was dragged out into the fields surrounding the safe-house by the blonde Slytherin, he tried to think of a way to get himself out of the situation. "I do not think..." Harry began to say nervously as Draco dragged him even further away from the house.

"Harry, what you think doesn't really matter much at the moment." Draco told him pointedly, continuing to lead the Boy-Who-Lived along by his hand. "You're seventeen years old in two weeks, you'll be a fully grown wizard, and you have never ridden a broom before. We are going to fix that whether you like it or not."

"But I..." He tried again.

"Nope, I don't wanna hear it." The blonde dismissed easily as they came to a stop finally. Draco didn't drop Harry's hand however as he positioned the broom correctly and then straddled it.

Harry watched him with wide eyes. "You...You are riding with me?" He asked uncertainly.

"Of course." The taller young man said as though it was obvious and should have been known all along. "You don't put a total novice on a broom and let them get on with it. First, we'll take a ride together to get you used to it and then, tomorrow, we'll work on you doing some things yourself." He explained before giving the dark haired teenager's hand a small pull. "Now c'mon, get on behind me and wrap your arms around my waist."

Harry's eyes flickered from Draco's face to the broom and then back to the blonde. For a long moment he did nothing except that, looking from one to the other and then back again and not once did the Slytherin try to hurry him. This situation was both better and worse then what he had previous expected. It was better because, with Draco doing the flying, Harry could be under the protection of someone who was a lot more experienced and capable with a broom. Unfortunately, it meant that Harry wouldn't be in direct control of the situation. That had never really happened before and the dark haired youth was unsure if he was comfortable with the idea. However, eventually, the Boy-Who-Lived demonstrated his natural bravery by carefully closing the distance between himself and Draco before lifting his leg and straddling the broom behind the blonde.

A few minutes were spent with Harry getting himself comfortable on the length of wood and getting a secure grip around Draco's waist. When he finally stopped shifting around, the blonde looked over his shoulder. "All right?"

"I-I think so." Harry stammered.

"Up we go then." Draco said with a grin as he kicked off the ground, hard, sending them shooting up into the air with quite a bit of speed.

Harry gave a startled gasp at the sudden, rapid movement and tightened his arms around the young man controlling the broom as he closed his eyes and buried his face against the blonde's back. The sound of rushing wind was all that he could hear and the sensation of gravity trying to pull him back to the ground unnerved him. He didn't want to look at how high up they were or know how fast they were going or anything like that. At that moment, all he wanted was to survive the experience.

"Having fun?" Draco yelled over the sound of the wind.

Harry couldn't find his voice to answer. He felt Draco's back shift beneath his cheek but couldn't quite bring himself to lift his head and open his eyes to check whether the blonde was looking at him or not. A few seconds later, he felt the taller teenager shift again before the broom straightened so they were no longer going diagonally upwards and the wind rushing past them began to lessen until, eventually, the wind stopped altogether. At that, Harry finally opened his eyes, just to check what was going on.

Almost instantly he wished he had kept his eyes shut and remained in blissful ignorance of their current position. The solid ground seemed to be a million miles beneath their feet which were just dangling in thin air and the only thing which was stopping them from falling to certain death was the thin rod of wood they were sitting astride. Despite the fact that the sight was completely horrifying for Harry, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the terrifyingly long drop and he just sat there, frozen, looking down with wide eyes at the ground all the way down below them.

"Harry?" Draco said. When he got no reply, he looked over his shoulder."You okay?" He asked upon seeing the expression on his companion's face.

For several long seconds, Harry remained completely silent and completely still. Then, finally, without moving his eyes from staring down at what was below, he managed to get enough control back to stammer out: "We...We are very high up."

Draco laughed at that softly spoken truth and turned back to look in front of himself. "We could go a lot higher." When Harry tightened his arms around his waist a little, the blonde laughed again. "If you think this is high then you'd really hate Quidditch." He controlled his chuckles then but a broad, amused smile still remained on his face. "Ready to get moving again?"

"Must we?" Harry asked, thinking to himself that it would be very agreeable if they were to call it a day and return to solid ground.

"Hey," Draco said gently, his tone now much more understanding as though he finally realised that Harry actually was really scared at that moment. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You're safe up here with me." He assured as a hand came up to cover one of Harry's which was pressed against his stomach.

Harry's first reaction to that action was fear of the fact that Draco no longer hand both hands holding onto the broom. Then, that thought was over-taken by the realisation that they were basically holding hands. If it weren't for the fact it he petrified on falling, he might have tried to pull away. As it was, the dark haired youth couldn't bring himself to move even the slightest and so had to let it continue. It wasn't so bad though, if he was completely honest. Draco's hand was warm and was somehow reassuring which didn't make much sense to Harry as, if he did fall, Draco holding his hand wasn't going to save him. Nevertheless, it made him feel better.

"Better?" The blonde inquired.

"I-I suppose."

"Good. We'll start again, more slowly this time I promise." Draco said with a note of humour in his voice before he moved the broom forward again, keeping true to his word and moving them slowly.

Very slowly in fact, at what could be described as a little faster than normal walking pace. It was no doubt a very boring speed for the experienced Slytherin but it was more than enough for Harry. If they had been closer to the ground then he would've been completely fine with a faster speed, with the whole situation in fact, but as it was, he was still wary of what they were doing even though they were moving at a crawl and he could only just manage to look around himself as long as he kept his gaze from going too far down. His arms remained tight around the young man in front of him as well and the reassuring hand remained on top of his.

For ages, the two teenagers remained high in the sky, flying at a slow and steady pace. And not once did Draco let go of Harry's hand.

* * *

Harry sighed lightly as he placed his book down on his lap and brought his hand up to rub his eyes. After his morning outside with Draco, he had retreated back into the house and into the study to try and finish his search for the Horcruxes and determine whether Nagini really was the final one. It had taken practically the entire afternoon and had even eaten into the evening a little, but finally, he had his answer and so plans could start to be made.

A soft knock suddenly came at the study door, causing Harry to lower his hands again and look up towards the door. "Come in." He invited softly.

Stillness and silence followed for a few seconds before the handle turned and the door swung inwards revealing Draco carrying a tray of dinner. "You didn't join us for dinner and I figured you were busy. You still need to eat though so I brought you something to eat in here."

"The thought is very kind but unnecessary. I have just finished my research." Harry told him, folding the book closed and placing it down on the table beside his armchair.

"Really?"

"Yes; the final Horcrux is, indeed, Nagini."

"That's great! So...So this is all almost over?" Draco asked hopefully, walking further into the room.

"Yes, this war will no doubt soon be over. When Nagini is destroyed, a dose of the potion will need to be injected directly into Voldemort's blood stream but yes, then the war will be over."

"That's is so brilliant." The blonde smiled happily as he set the tray down next to the book Harry had been looking at. Before Harry could even open his mouth to question that as he thought the food was meant for him, the Slytherin got down on his knees in front of the dark haired teenager, resting his hands on each other Harry's knees. "Soon we'll all be free and it'll be thanks to you Harry."

"I have not worked alone..." Harry tried to protest.

"But you've worked the most." Draco pointed out. "And I am most honoured that I've been allowed to spend so much time with you." And with that, the blonde reared up abruptly and covered Harry's lips with his own. The dark haired young man's eyes widened slightly before slowly closing as he leaned in himself and enjoyed the kiss.

Kissing Draco was steadily becoming a habit and, if he was truthful, Harry couldn't really bring himself to care. The intimate contact was pleasant and the dark haired teenager could honestly say that he enjoyed the blonde's company. Did he feel something for the young aristocrat? Well, he would definitely be upset if the Slytherin were to suddenly go away and he enjoyed seeing the blonde happy and smiling, but did that mean anything? He wasn't sure. After all, he had never really experienced feeling something for another and had no way to identify his current "relationship" with Draco. The fact that they kissed and sometimes cuddled on the sofa gave strength to the idea that they were more than just friends and they could very well be without Harry fully realising the fact.

The sound of the study door suddenly opening surprised both of the young men and they hastily separated. Draco stepped back, stood and turned before stepping to the side allowing Harry to see that it was Lucius standing in the doorway. Thankfully, he didn't look horrified but neither did he look happy; he was completely neutral and it was rather disconcerting, especially for Draco.

The younger blonde gave an embarrassed cough and looked to the side. "Urr, we were...We..."

"I merely came to ask if either of you wanted tea." Lucius cut his son off in a monotone.

"Uhh, no thanks, we're good, aren't we Harry?" Draco replied, looking to the dark haired young man for support at the end.

Harry flickered his gaze from Lucius to Draco and then back before retrieving his book and opening it while replying: "I have no preference."

Lucius merely gave a stiff nod of his head at that before turning and leaving the study, closing the door behind himself. Draco released a huge sigh when the man had gone and slumped onto the arm of the chair Harry was sitting on. "Bloody Hell, almost gave me a heart attack."

"Do you think he is disapproving?" Harry inquired in his usual soft tone.

"I wouldn't care even if he is." The young aristocrat said in a rather arrogant matter. Then, he gave a yawn and stretched his arms and back before relaxing again. "Hmm, it's been a long day, I think I'm going to retire for the night."

"Very well." The dark haired young man acknowledged, his eyes still on his book. However, when fingers gripped his chin, he was forced to lift his head and, when he did, lips pressed against his again in a soft kiss.

It lasted only a few moments before Draco pulled away again and gave the quiet teenager a genuine smile. "See you in the morning. Sleep well." He wished before straightening up and silently leaving the study.

Harry watched the young aristocrat go in stillness, his hands rested neatly on top of the book on his lap. Then, with the click of the door closing properly, he gave a small sigh and dropped his gaze. His life really was far too complicated. He wondered if other people struggled so much with their lives as well, but upon considering that, the rather depressing thought that his life was pretty unique in a rather negative way occurred to him. In all probability, other people were most likely able to handle their lives and their emotions to a far better degree than Harry could. A prime example would be Draco who seemed to be in control of every situation he ever found himself in or perhaps that was just Harry's envy clouding his judgment slightly. The blonde obviously recognised he was attracted to Harry though, hence all the initiation of the kissing and cuddling. Harry didn't even know what he felt towards the young Malfoy if anything at all. He liked being around him and the kissing was admittedly wonderful, but what did that all mean?

With another sigh, Harry put his book to the side before getting to his feet. He needed to clear his head, have a wander around the house, perhaps even try to go to bed like a normal person instead of waiting for exhaustion to just make him nod off whenever it all got too much. Calmly and silently, the Boy-Who-Lived left the study behind him.

For a few minutes Harry walked around the ground floor of the house and, strangely, found that neither Severus or Lucius were anywhere to be found. The fact brought a small frown to the dark haired young man's face as he wondered where the two men could have possibly gone especially as only five minutes ago Lucius had come into the study inquiring as to whether either of the boys wanted tea. But perhaps they had gone to bed...

Harry knew he wouldn't be able to rest his mind on the matter until he knew for sure where the two adults were. So, turning around, he headed towards the stairs, climbing them quickly and without effort. When he reached the top of them, he went to turn to the left, the direction in which the room Severus and Lucius shared was. However, before he could actually start walking in that direction, the definite sound of Severus' voice came from the right, where Draco's and his own bedrooms were located. Another frown marred the dark haired teenager's face as he turned to the right and silently crept towards Draco's bedroom where the door was slightly ajar and candle light from inside the room was filtering through the crack.

Upon reaching the door, Harry pressed himself up against the wall beside it as much as possible and then carefully tried to peer through the crack. He could see nothing more than a patch of carpet inside the bedroom but he could hear everything which was being said and that was what mattered the most.

"You cannot get romantically involved with him Draco." Lucius' calm voice insisted.

"And why not? Because I'm supposed to marry a nice, virgin pure-blood girl? Please, such a thing doesn't exist." Draco's voice snorted dismissively.

"No," his father replied patiently. "You cannot get emotionally attached to Potter because you will only end up having your heart broken."

"What makes you so sure it wouldn't work between us?"

"Whether it would work or not is irrelevant." Severus spoke up then. "Draco, Harry Potter has one purpose in life and that is to stop the Dark Lord. Once that is done, the boy's purpose will cease and he will no doubt just allow himself to simply fade away."

Harry gave a very quiet gasp at that and looked at the small patch of carpet in the room which was visible to him. No, that couldn't be true, he wouldn't do that...

"You mean he'll just stop functioning?" Draco's voice asked sceptically. "How can you even know that? You said it yourself when we first woke him that Dumbledore left you with very little information regarding him."

"You can't deny that he is not a normal person." Lucius said then, his tone implying he thought it was a perfectly valid statement to make. "Can you imagine what his life would be like after the war? He has been locked away from humanity for too long Draco, he would never be able to learn how to function properly in a society full of people who wouldn't care enough to take the time to understand his past."

"But he's already starting to learn!" The teenager protested. "He's not the same as he was when he first woke a few weeks ago; he's improved so much already!"

Harry couldn't bring himself to listen to anymore and he silently backed away from the blonde youth's bedroom, moving towards the entrance into his own. He easily opened the door and edged into the room behind, closing the door behind himself and then leaning back against it. He stared down at the floor, strange feelings swirling around his body and unfamiliar emotions making his chest feel tight and a lump to form in his throat. And then, rather suddenly, a spot of water hitting the inside of his glasses startled him slightly and his eyes widened in surprise. Slowly, he reached up and pulled the spectacles off, bringing them closer to his face to look at them.

"Tears..." Harry whispered to himself in confusion, unable to think of anything else the spot of water could be. Bringing up his free hand to his eyes, he gently brushed his fingertips just underneath his eye. When he pulled them away again, they were covered in a thin coating of clear liquid. He stared at his fingers in shock, not believing exactly what it was he was seeing. "My tears..." His tone was completely disbelieving. "Why...Why am I crying?"

Never before had Harry ever cried or even felt like he was about to cry. He had seen people cry in his dreams for various reasons and he had seen Draco cry during the period of uncertainty about Lucius' future. He felt he had a good understanding of why people cried but he was completely stumped over why there were tears falling from his own eyes at that very moment. He felt no physical pain at that moment and that was the only immediate reason which occurred to him because that was one of the reasons people cried. People also cried when they were very happy which he knew he wasn't. They cried when someone they loved dies and no one had died recently as far as he knew. People also cried when they were sad or frightened...

And that's when it hit the young man; he was crying because he felt sad.

He was crying because he was sad that the people he trusted thought that way about him.

He was crying because Severus and Lucius were trying to stop him and Draco from being together.

He was crying because he was afraid that the two men were right and after Voldemort's death, he would no longer be necessary...

So this was sadness? Harry felt it was pretty safe to say that he didn't like it and would definitely avoid feeling it in the future. Sadness made him feel terrible and crying was incredibly uncomfortable, making his throat constrict and his nose become stuffed up and the tears irritated his skin as they rolled down his cheeks. Yes, it was safe to say that out of all the things he had experienced since he had been woken, sadness was the worst and that included physical pain which hadn't exactly been pleasant the first time either.

But what to do now? There was no use in simply wallowing in this new feeling, that would achieve nothing and he didn't really want to continue feeling it. With a sigh, he pushed away from the door, intending to wander over to the open window on the other side of the room and have a look outside. However, as he passed his bed, something caught his eyes, something which was out of place. There was something laying on his pillow and it wasn't anything he recognised as belonging to him, he certainly hadn't see it before. It was a small box covered in green velvet, a bit like a ring box but where would a ring box have come from?

Harry frowned and cautiously approached it, trying to feel whether anything negative was radiating from it. There was nothing though so it definitely wasn't cursed. But where had it come from? Was it possible that Draco had left him for him? Where would Draco have got it from? The blonde hadn't left the house unless it was to go outside and fly. There was a folded piece of paper underneath the small box and it occurred to the dark haired young man that it may be a note. So, without even really thinking about it, he reached out and took hold of the box, intending to lift it away so he could get to the paper.

The instant he felt the velvet against his palm, there was a horrible tugging sensation on his navel. Sharp panic froze his blood as he realised exactly what had happened; he had grabbed a Portkey. How could he be so stupid? How could he let his guard drop to such a degree? All because he had assumed it was a present from Draco...

When he arrived at the Portkey's destination, Harry didn't even have time to try and figure out where he was before something hit him in the back and he crumbled to the floor uselessly, his surroundings fading away into nothing.

* * *

End of Chapter 8.  
CLIFFHANGER! Dum, dum, dum! Considering there's only two chapters left, I don't think it's too hard to figure out where Harry is XD  
I have nothing more to say for this time except goodbye for now and take care my pootals, (my dad calls me that sometimes XD)

Hugs  
Dream


	9. Chapter 9

Hi everyone :)

Woo for reviews! They make me so happy :D  
I have nothing more to say...So I will simply hush :)

* * *

How long had it been? It was hard for him to tell, everything had just sort of blended together into a blur. His arms were cramped due to the fact they had been held above his head for so long, his wrists were sore and bloody from struggling against the shackles which held him to the wall behind and everything else ached with the lingering effects of the many Cruciatus curses he had suffered.

Somehow he had been transported into the heart of Voldemort's manor and had clearly been expected if the dozens of Death Eaters and the Dark Lord himself who greeted him was any evidence. He had immediately been chained up in the dungeons and had since endured several torture sessions with random Death Eaters. Nothing was from Voldemort himself however which was rather confusing for the dark haired young man. Not that he was complaining as he had no way to defeat the evil man and he couldn't afford to die yet. But he hadn't been allowed food or water for however long he had been in this place which wasn't at all good; what chance did the world have if he starved to death?

The sound of the heavy door into the dungeons opening and then being shut again reached Harry's ears before the steady clicking of shoes on the cold, stone floor began to draw closer to him. The dark haired teenager had no strength in his body to lift his head to see who it was approaching though and so was forced to remain passively slumped against the wall, vulnerable to whoever it was coming closer to him. And they had to be coming to him as he was the only person currently locked away in one of the several cells which made up the basement level of Voldemort's manor/castle/hide-out.

The time it took for the footsteps to stop outside his cell and for the cell door to open seemed like an eternity to the injured and weak young man but the closing of the door and the sensation of the other person approaching him still came too soon for his liking. At the back of his mind, he idly wondered what he was in for this time, whether it would be merely jeering taunts, a few rounds of the Cruciatus or perhaps one or two of the nastier spells he had already suffered or still had yet to suffer. What he didn't expect was what actually happened. The footsteps stopped right in front of Harry and then a gentle hand cupped his cheek and coaxed his face up before a pair of soft, familiar lips pressed against his own.

It was Draco! It had to be! Who else would kiss him? Suddenly, those thoughts left Harry in a rush as his lips were pried open with the firm muscle of the other's tongue and his mouth was flooded with liquid. Without any ability to fight or pull away, he was forced to swallow whatever it was, despite the fact it could easily be a deadly poison or something which would affect him negatively. It was only when he had swallowed the potion, which tasted familiar but he couldn't put his finger on what it reminded him of, that the person kissing him finally pulled back. Harry couldn't quite force his head to remain up and as soon as his cheek was released it slumped forward weakly.

"It's time." The voice of Draco whispered to him as the sound of locks being opened came, suggesting that the blonde was unlocking the shackles holding Harry's arms to the walls. "Nagini's dead and I have a syringe full of the potion ready for when you need it." The left shackle left Harry free and he slumped forward weakly, only just being caught in time by the blonde who held him close and gently. "You'll start feeling better in a minute or two."

They lapsed into silence then and, for a long moment, simply stood together, Harry only standing because of the support that Draco's arms around him were providing. However, as they stood in silence, the dark haired young man definitely did begin to feel better. Strength began to return to his limbs and it became less of a chore to stand or even just to lift his head. It was hard to say just how long it took for him to recover enough to no longer need the blonde's support but it happened eventually and, carefully, the young saviour pulled away from his friend enough to stand completely on his own though the arms of the other remained around him loosely.

"Okay?" Draco murmured gently, not releasing the dark haired young man completely just in case it turned out he wasn't yet able to hold himself up.

"Yes." Harry confirmed though in his usual monotone.

"We'd better get up there then." The blonde said, his tone totally changing from affectionate and concerned to cold and distant as he brought a Death Eater mask, which Harry recognised as the one which actually belonged to Snape, up to cover his face. "As far as the Dark Lord knows, I'm not Draco Malfoy and we don't know each other; let's keep it that way, hmm?"

"Of course." The dark haired young man agreed.

Draco gave him a stiff nod at that before bringing out his wand and using a spell to bind the shorter teenager's hands together. Then, he moved behind him and gave his lower back a prod with the tip of his wand. Harry started forward obediently, out of the cell he had been held in for the past few days and across the length of the dungeon to the stairs which led up to the ground floor of Voldemort's manor.

For several minutes they walked in silence, Harry leading and being kept at wand point by Draco. Then, finally, they came to two massive double doors and stopped. Still, neither of them spoke but it seemed to somehow be communicated between them both on what was about to happen. Harry took a step to the side to allow Draco access to the door. The blonde Slytherin knocked on one of the doors as loudly as possible and a few moments later, the doors swung inwards slowly and silently. Inside, the sight of dozens upon dozens of Death Eaters and Voldemort was revealed. The Dark Lord sat in a massive, lavish throne looking smug and triumphant while the wizards and witches in black cloaks stood either side of their master in two large and equal-looking groups. Draco prodded Harry in the back with the tip of his wand again and the dark haired young man obediently started forward again.

When they just about reached the centre of the hall, Draco reached out and grabbed Harry's shoulder. The dark haired young man stopped as he was supposed to and then just stood there, silently. A moment or two later, the blonde haired Slytherin pulled his hand away before his presence left Harry's side completely as he moved to the side in order to join the other Death Eaters who had been invited to watch whatever it was which was about to happen.

However, for a long moment, nothing did happen. No one in the chamber moved or made a sound and all that was done was staring; while Voldemort and his Death Eaters stared at Harry, Harry stared right back at them. But then, finally, the silence and the stillness was broken as the Dark Lord decided he'd had enough of the strange mind-game the previous few minutes had been.

"Harry Potter." Voldemort smirked in a smooth, hissing voice. "So you did live. I must say, when I tracked down those filthy, Muggle relatives of yours but found you weren't with them, I had thought for sure that the stories of your survival were false. I'm...Impressed that you were able to hide so completely for so long." He stood gracefully then and began to slowly walk towards the Boy-Who-Lived. "Tell me, how did you do it? Where have you been for all these years?"

Harry said nothing to that and simply continued to stare at the snake-like man.

"Come now Harry, don't be shy, we're all dying to know about the fantastic adventures of the Boy-Who-Lived."

Still, Harry remained silent and neutral.

"Hmm," Voldemort hummed in an unconcerned, relaxed manner. "Perhaps I can think of a way to loosen your tongue; Crucio!"

Harry felt the spell hit him yet there was no pain. There was a very odd sensation like pressing down on a limb that had fallen asleep but it was neither painful or particularly uncomfortable. If Harry had been anything like a normal person, he probably wouldn't have been able to stop himself from glancing over in the direction Draco had left in to see if there was any sign that this was how the blonde had expected things to go. As it was, he had far more self-control than the average person and therefore remained standing there completely still, as though the Cruciatus curse hadn't just been cast on him by the Dark Lord himself.

Voldemort and the present Death Eaters all seemed suitably shocked by the lack of reaction from Harry. With a reluctantly confused frown, the Dark Lord took off the curse only to promptly put it back on. The effect, or lack there of, was the same and the dark haired teenager did nothing, not even a flinch. When it became obvious that the spell wasn't going to cause Harry any pain, Voldemort took it off again.

A moment of stillness came then as the Dark Lord allowed himself the time to consider what to do next and while he thought, his minions and Harry were left to sweat. Well, in Harry's case, sweat probably wasn't the right word. It was more like he was calmly biding his time himself and waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike to arrive.

Then, rather abruptly, the silence was broken and the plan of action was revealed: "Release his arms." Voldemort practically spat. Draco, from where he stood at the side, did as he was told, waving his wand in Harry's direction and, a second later, the dark haired youth's hands were finally freed from behind his back. "Give him your wand." He ordered the nearest Death Eater to him.

"My Lord?" They said nervously.

"Do not make me repeat myself Goyle!" The evil man hissed furiously.

The Death Eater immediately rushed forward towards Harry and, upon reaching him, held out the wand for the dark haired teenager to take. However, Harry ignored it and continued to simply stare ahead at Voldemort.

"Take the wand." The Dark Lord ordered in a terrifyingly calm tone.

Still, Harry did nothing in reply.

Voldemort practically snarled in frustration and stalked over to Harry and the Death Eater. He snatched the wand out of Goyle's hand, who then immediately retreated back to the side again, and thrust it right at Harry. "Take the wand and fight!" He yelled.

Harry did nothing.

The Dark Lord glared down at the Boy-Who-Lived with clear hatred in his eyes. He threw Goyle's wand to the side carelessly and stepped right up to the dark haired saviour, close enough that anyone else would have been compelled to at least meet his gaze. Not Harry though, he simply continued to stare straight ahead which meant, in this new position, he stared straight at the middle of Voldemort's chest.

"You're master is dead, I had him killed by the man who woke you, you will duel me now!" Voldemort ordered with an intense yell of anger.

Once again, Harry did nothing but stare.

Voldemort gave an almost animalistic snarl of impatience as he strode forward quickly. Upon reaching the dark haired teenager, the evil man shot his arm out and gripped him by the throat with one hand, the gesture meant to be more frightening than painful or an attempt to strangle him. "I quickly tire of your presence boy."

Harry's eyes finally flickered into focus and they moved up to meet with Voldemort's. Then, for a few dragging seconds, neither of them did anything else. Suddenly, without warning or hint as to what was about to happen, Harry held his arm out to the side and wordlessly summoned the syringe which Draco held for him at the side. Seconds later the object collided with the dark haired teenager's palm and he clutched it before bringing his hand up and around, slamming straight for the Dark Lord's neck. And, before the evil man could even react, the sharp point of the needle had been firmly lodged in the sickly-grey coloured flesh. The man's eyes widened in something akin to surprise which caused the stoic young man to finally react.

A small smirk quirked Harry's lips upwards as he slowly emptied the syringe of potion into Voldemort's body. "I do as I please." He said quietly to the man in front of him before roughly jerking the needle free.

The surprised expression on Voldemort's face remained even as Harry stepped away from him and allowed him to lurch forward awkwardly. The red of his confused gaze locked onto the Boy Who Lived as the colour began to drain away from him. The grey skin turned even paler, the red of the irises began to fade into grey and the limbs lost their tension, becoming limp and useless.

So, it was under the gazes of the handful of Death Eaters and one pure young man, the Dark Lord Voldemort fell, the sound of the soulless body hitting the stone floor the only noise which was heard. No one knew what to say, no one knew when to move, no one knew what to do. They all just stood, staring at the once powerful wizard who now lay so still and empty, now nothing but a shell.

Finally, it was Harry who was the first to move. He stepped forward, closer to the fallen body and that seemed to wake everyone up. In an instant, almost all of the Death Eaters had turned and started to hurry towards the doors of the chamber, no doubt planning on making a swift exit now that their leader had fallen. There was a grand total of three who remained true and drew their wands for revenge. However, before any of them could utter a single syllable of any incantation, the traitorous blonde saviour who was present sprung into action, petrifying and immobilising all three dark wizards in an instant. That attracted the attention of several others who obviously didn't take kindly to the idea of one of their own turning traitor and so tried to fight as well. And while all of that was happening, Harry was moving slowly and calmly to the still form or Voldemort, descending into a kneel upon reaching the man's side.

All his life, his only apparent reason for being was that very moment. All his preparation was for the very situation he was currently in at that exact second...And it was all very anti-climatic, for Harry at least. The chaos around him registered but meant nothing and he felt an acute sense of disappointment in it all. It seemed too easy, yet there it was and his task was about to end.

The noise had stopped behind him and so when a presence suddenly came to stand next to Harry, he simply ignored it, knowing that whoever it was meant him no harm; there's was no one left conscious who was an enemy and even if there was, if the one now standing beside him was a threat, he would no doubt have been dead several seconds ago. Indeed, the person crouched down to his level and the dark haired teenager saw out of the corner of his eye that it was Draco, the mask he had been wearing once again absent. The blonde was leaning over so his chin could rest on his knees and he stared down at Voldemort without much of a definite expression on his face.

"A pain killer." Harry murmured simply, his eyes not leaving the form in front of them.

"Yeah, a pretty strong one that Sev slightly modified so it numbed inflicted pain rather than lingering pain." Draco confirmed. "You'll feel the side effects of any of the attacks eventually and I wouldn't recommend taking another potion to relieve the pain then..."

"Of course." Harry agreed or, as whenever he gave that reply, simply acknowledged the fact that Draco had spoken. "Have you brought the stone with you?" He asked, finally turning to look at the blonde and seeing that his short fight with the other Death Eaters had not effected him in the least.

Draco gave a short nod and reached into an inside pocket of his robe. Seconds later, he removed his hand which now held the dark, cloudy lump of green gem which had originally been found in the chamber Harry had slept for so long in. The dark haired young man accepted the stone when it was handed to him and he gently laid it to rest between Voldemort's eyes. Gradually, so much so that the two teenagers could clearly see it happen, the final tint of green faded from the gem and it became nothing more than an ugly, black rock. When its colour ceased changing, Harry removed it from the corpse.

"Now what do we do with it?" Draco asked quietly.

"It will be destroyed." Harry answered in his usual monotone. "And Voldemort's soul will be destroyed with it." A pause. "How was the Portkey planted?"

"The Dark Lord sent a Death Eater whose animagus form is an owl, they got in through your bedroom window which had been left open. Sev and Father seem to be convinced that your location was discovered during one of the times the Dark Lord used Legimency on me, hence the disguise of Sev's mask, just to be on the safe side." The Slytherin answered.

Harry nodded to that before glancing around himself at the empty chamber. "Where are Professor Snape and your father?"

"They're somewhere in the manor dismantling the wards."

The dark haired young man didn't even have enough time to question that before the doors of the large chamber burst inwards and allowed dozens upon dozens of Aurors to pour into the area. Harry's eyes widened very slightly and he turned to look at Draco to see his reaction. Surprisingly, the blonde didn't look in the least bit startled by the sudden appearance of so many wizards fighting for the Light. Upon feeling the green-eyed gaze on him, the aristocrat turned his head slightly to look at the dark haired young man beside him.

"Oh yeah," he said with a sort of faked innocence. "I tipped off the Aurors before we left."

* * *

End of Chapter 9.  
And there we have the defeat of Voldemort. That's three different ways I've written it now...I'm not sure I'll ever be able to think of anymore -.- Next chapter is the last one people, it'll just be there to tie up some of the loose ends created in this story. Anything that isn't answered/explained will no doubt be so in the sequel :D  
I'm all done for this week. Catch ya'll for the final update next week my lovelies. Take care :)

Hugs  
Dream


	10. Chapter 10

Hi everyone :)

So many nice, encouraging comments for last chapter, despite the fact more than one said it was a little boring. In a way, boring was what I was going for though, (or at least anticlimactic) so I suppose even in a way, being told it was boring was a good thing as it meant I managed to succeed in what I intended to do.  
Now, this chapter is sinfully short, I am aware of that, but there was very little that actually needed to happen in it. But keep the sequel in your mind and hopefully it won't be too disappointing, (that's what I'm praying for anyway).

* * *

Draco Lucius Malfoy, you have been charged with conspiring to murder Professor Albus Dumbledore to which you pleaded guilty. However, due to new found testimony from Albus Dumbledore and also evidence of the role you played in the down-fall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named provided by our saviour Harry Potter, any possible sentence in Azkaban shall be pardoned. Instead, you are required to pay a fine of 250, 000 galleons. 

Lucius Malfoy, you have been charged with numerous offences some of which are being found bearing the Dark Mark, escaping from Azkaban and being an active Death Eater, all of which you have pleaded guilty to. However, due to your role in the down-fall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the subsequent information you have provided which has led to the arrest of several Death Eaters, the jury has decided to wave a new sentence in Azkaban and allow you to serve the remaining period of your previous sentence under house arrest. Therefore, for the next eight years, you will remain within the grounds of your manor.

Severus Tobias Snape, you have been charged with conspiring to murder Professor Albus Dumbledore, the actual murder of Albus Dumbledore, hiding a fugitive from Azkaban and being an active Death Eater, all of which you have pleaded guilty to. Due to new found testimony from Albus Dumbledore and that provided by our saviour Harry Potter, a sentence in Azkaban shall not be served and you shall instead be placed under house arrest for at least the next twenty-five years.

* * *

The sun was bright and the sky clear and blue that afternoon when the sentences were passed on the three traitorous Slytherins. There were a handful of people hanging around outside the Ministry of Magic building when Harry came walking out of the building, dressed in a simple black robe which although wasn't the one he wore most of the time, (because that one was hardly in a good enough condition to wear in public, or so Draco had told him) it was exactly the same style and made of the same material. He noticed that he drew the attention of several people around him but he ignored them and, thankfully, none of them came over and speak to him. So, he was allowed to head to the Apparation spot in peace. 

His return to the Wizarding world had been surprisingly calm. He had remained mostly out of the lime-light thankfully due to the fact he had spent most of the time inside and speaking with Aurors and other official types who needed to check he was who he claimed to be. A few of the newspapers had managed to get a few sneaky pictures of him so far and the word of his return was starting to spread so things would no doubt get a lot more stressful very soon but, for that moment, Harry was allowed a relative amount of privacy and solitude as he left for...

"Harry!" The voice of Draco suddenly called to him and the dark haired young man stopped dutifully before turning to see the blonde aristocrat approaching him. "Are you leaving now?"

"There is no further reason for me to remain here, I have spoken all that I know." Harry answered in his usual monotone.

"I thought you would've at least, you know, said goodbye to us at least." The blonde said somewhat awkwardly and it was then that the saviour glanced behind his friend and saw Snape and Lucius further away, being kept under watch by a handful of Aurors while the elder Malfoy reunited with his wife.

"I see they are enjoying their last moments of freedom." Harry murmured, avoiding the blonde's previous statement on purpose.

"Whereas you're enjoying your first moments of freedom." Draco said with a happy smile. "How does it feel? To finally be able to do anything you want?"

"I feel...Anxious..." The dark haired young man admitted quietly, turning his head to look down at the ground. "I do not know what I shall do now, I do not honestly know where I shall go..."

"The offer for you to stay with us at our manor is still open." The blonde reminded his friend of the offer which had previously been made by Lucius.

"I do not wish to encourage the false sense of duty both Professor Snape and your father seem to have in regard to my keep."

"Then we'll get a place of our own."

Harry's eyes widened slightly at that and he lifted his gaze to meet the blonde's. "Pardon?"

"I have enough money in my own name, we'll use it to buy our own place. I'm seventeen and you're seventeen in a week, no one can stop us, we'll both be of age." Draco pointed out enthusiastically, obviously wanting to convince the Wizarding world's saviour that this was the way to go.

"I cannot allow you to give up your life for a stranger..."

"You're not a stranger!" Draco cried heatedly as he suddenly brought his hands up to hold onto each of Harry's shoulders tightly in an abrupt change of manner which rather startled the dark haired youth. "How can you even say something like that? Is that what you really think? That we're strangers to each other? Merlin Harry, can't you understand how much I love you?"

"We have known each other barely a month and you claim love? Draco, that is not possible." Harry told him gently in a tone of voice he had never really used before. He wasn't fully sure how to handle the current situation but knowing that to be harsh and cold would only emotionally hurt the other young man and, although he didn't understand what he felt most of the time, the saviour did know that he never wanted to see Draco in any kind of pain, especially if he had been the one to cause it.

"All right, fine, maybe it isn't love, all I know is that I have never felt this way about anyone before." The blonde admitted, relaxing his hold on the other young man but not releasing him completely. "Harry, the thought of not seeing you every day makes me feel physically ill, it makes me want to go so far as binding myself to you just so you can never leave me. So please, don't say we're strangers, because we're not, we're so much more than that."

"I-I...I..." The dark haired young man stuttered for a moment, a blush colouring his cheeks and his eyes staying fixed on those steel-grey eyes above. "I-I am sorry, I do not know what to say to that."

"Just tell me how you feel about me." Draco almost pleaded.

"I do not know how I feel..." Harry murmured in almost a whisper, his eyes still not leaving the young man who was so close to him. "I am sorry."

"Then just answer me this," the blonde said gently. "Do you like spending time with me?"

"...Yes."

"Would you be sad if I suddenly left, for whatever reason?"

"Yes."

"Would you try and find me?"

"Yes."

"Do you find me attractive?"

"...Yes."

Draco leaned in much closer then, so close that their noses gently brushed against each other each time they took in a breath. "Do you want kiss me?"

Harry swallowed thickly before he managed to nod his head and breathe out a quiet: "Yes."

"Then I think it's safe to say that you care about me just as much as I care about you." The blonde murmured with a smile before he backed off slightly, aware that it would only be too easy for a journalist from a newspaper to take their picture so that their faces would be seen by every witch and wizard in Britain the next day. "We're not strangers Harry, we're so far past that now."

"I will still not allow you to give up everything for me." Harry insisted firmly.

Draco gave an annoyed huff at that, removing his hands from Harry's shoulder and crossing his arms across his chest as he scowled lightly at the dark haired young man. "You're too bloody stubborn." He muttered and, to his great delight, Harry gave a very slight smile at that, though really it was little more than a very tiny curve of the corner of his mouth. The blonde felt a ridiculous amount of joy at that one little quirk but chose not to comment on it, not wanting to ruin what they had built up between them at that moment. Instead, he continued to haggle. "All right, say we go along with what you want, where exactly are you going to stay now?"

Unfortunately for Harry, that completely stumped him. He looked away from Draco awkwardly. "I..." He said before hesitating, unsure of how to follow that up.

Luckily for the young saviour, their conversation was interrupted with a familiar voice spoke the dark haired young man's name behind them. "Harry Potter?"

Harry and Draco turned then to see the figures of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black standing there, both looking rather anxious but also determined, no doubt to speak to Harry properly no matter what. "Remus Lupin and Sirius Black." The dark haired young man replied with a nod of greeting.

"You know who we are then?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"Yes."

"Did you know when you broke into our house?" Remus inquired with nothing but curiosity and relief in his tone, obviously not in the least bit angry at what Harry had done.

"I did."

"Why didn't you say anything to us then!" Sirius exclaimed, dismayed.

"It is...Complicated." Harry answered unsurely, not knowing whether the two men would understand what had happened to him.

"We would still like to know Harry." Remus said gently, as though sensing the young man's anxiety. "About everything you care to tell us. We were just about to go and get some lunch, if you have no other plans would you like to join us?"

"I think that would be a good idea." Draco murmured to Harry discreetly when the saviour hesitated. "They're the closest link to your family you have, you should get to know them. We can always finish this battle over where you're going to live later on."

Harry nodded very slightly to that before nodding more obviously to the two men in front of them. "That is acceptable." He told them.

Sirius and Remus seemed a little confused by Harry's formality but said nothing in comment of it. No doubt Harry's entire story would come out to them at some time that day and everyone was both dreading and anticipating it. Harry, however, was somewhat reassured by the knowledge that, no matter what, he would always have Draco Malfoy there to walk with him, talk with him, support him and care about him. And, in thanks, he would do all that and anything else for the blonde aristocrat who had become such a major part of his life in such a short time.

* * *

End of Epitome of a Soldier.  
Yes, that's right, it's the end of this story but not the end of the entire story! For this story, (which, let's face it, ended far too quickly didn't it?) shall have a sequel named "What it is to be Necessary". In it, we will see Harry attending his Seventh Year at Hogwarts and dealing with the problems which arise from his lack of social skills. Also, there will be more romance and more...Um..."Graphic" intimacy between our two boys, (one reviewer said they wished there had been some in this story XD It was a temptation for me to include it but I thought it really would be too rushed then). And now, I hear you all ask, when will the sequel be posted? Well, to that I would say, that's a very good question because I'm not exactly sure myself. At this very moment, I have almost five chapters, (more like four and a three quarters) pre-written and that's no way near enough for me to feel comfortable to start posting. So, I want to get another handful of chapters pre-written before I actually release it for you all to read. All I feel comfortable with saying right now is that it will be posted sometime before the end of the year and yes, I know the end of the year is quite a ways away XD  
Right, okay, I've said enough. So, I shall simply bid you all fond farewell until our next meeting in the sequel. Take care of yourselves everyone and I hope to see you all again soon :)

Hugs  
Dream


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